Kapepu confesses to murder

An Otjiwarongo resident, Israel Kapepu, pleaded with the court to be merciful in sentencing him for murdering his 28-year-old girlfriend at Otjiwarongo on 28 February 2015.

“I admit that my actions were unlawful… I humble myself and seek that the court be merciful in meting out appropriate justice In this case,” Kapepu pleaded.

The accused, in a written plea explaining the events that led to the death of his girlfriend, read on his behalf by his lawyer, Miese Tjituri, said on that fateful day, he consumed liquor with his friends and the deceased in the location.

Around midday, the couple decided to go back home. The deceased had prepared a mat to sleep on with their son.

Kapepu said he had fetched water for the deceased who had said that she wanted to take a bath. While she was bathing, she told Kapepu that she wanted to go back to the location to continue drinking. A heated quarrel ensued and Kapepu had argued that couples needed to spend time together as a family after drinking for two days in a row.

“During this quarrel the deceased insulted me and this had become a habit for her although I warned her not to disrespect me in this way,” he stated.

According to Kapepu, he hit his girlfriend three times with the backside of an axe on her head and she fell on the ground and bled to death.

“I confirm that I pleaded guilty on my own free will. Nobody has influenced me whatsoever to plead guilty. I am fully aware of the consequences of this plea. I can be convicted on these charges to which I have pleaded guilty without the state having to call witnesses or tender any evidence to the charges against me,” he said.

Kapepu also said he initially wanted to discipline his girlfriend with a sjambok but he could not find one in the house.

“I found an axe and ran towards the deceased. The deceased ran into the bedroom and picked up an object upon which I hit her with the backside of the axe once. I hit her again, twice on her head with the backside of the axe.”

“I take full responsibility for her death and for this I intend to file no justification for my action,” Kapepu emphasised his regret.

In another alleged murder of an intimate partner, the high court trial of a 25-year-old man, charged with killing his 19-year-old girlfriend by stabbing her at the Outjo State Hospital commenced in Windhoek yesterday.

Hendrick Nowoseb is accused of killing Wilhelmina Tsauses, injuring her severely on the evening of Saturday 6 December 2014 during an altercation, and then knifing her to death while she lay in a hospital bed during visiting hours the following day.

Nowoseb appeared before High Court Judge Naomi Shivute during a pre-trial conference for case management and the matter was postponed to 22 June for his State-funded defence lawyer, Natji Tjirare, to file a reply to the prosecution's questionnaire of pre-trial memorandum.

Deputy Prosecutor-General Antonia Verhoef provided Tjirare with the documentation in preparation of his client's defence.

According to the charge sheet, Nowoseb allegedly stabbed Tsauses three times – on her head, neck and left arm - around 23:00 at her family house in Etoshapoort in Outjo before fleeing the scene that Saturday.

Police arrived at the scene and took Tsauses to the Outjo State Hospital.

The following day, Sunday, at about 15:30, Nowoseb, armed with a butcher's knife, entered the hospital during visiting hours looking for Tsauses. When he found her, Nowoseb allegedly stabbed her in the chest. Nurses found the Tsauses bleeding from the fresh and deep wound in her chest. She died shortly after.

– Additional reporting by Nampa

FRED GOEIEMAN