Zippy

An alcohol-fuelled stabbing spree that resulted in a woman being convicted of culpable homicide and serious assault has been relived in sentencing proceedings in the High Court yesterday. Magdalena Khamuxas was convicted last year of stabbing her ex-boyfriend Johannes Kasavi Nguna to death and also attacking Elfriede Kausiona and August Aib with a knife on October 26, 2011 on farm Doringfeld Post in the Outjo District. Her attorney Boris Isaacks admitted that his client had been convicted of very serious offences. He, however, submitted the crimes were not premeditated. “It is clear from the evidence they were committed at the spur of the moment. This can be regarded as a mitigating factor, Isaacks argued. He further submitted that accused blameworthiness for culpable homicide was further diminished by the fact that it was dark at the time and that she had only stabbed Nguna once. According to him Kausiona was the original aggressor. “In fact she (Kausiona) brought a weapon - a stick - to what was at that stage a fist fight, he said. Isaacks said Kausiona caused an open wound to the accused that was bleeding when the police arrived on the scene. He said although Kausiona was stabbed multiple times by the accused, it is clear from the doctor’s report that no penetrating wounds were caused to her body. Isaacks further argued that there can be no doubt that the intake of alcohol influenced the behavior of the accused. “Maybe not to the point of excluding criminal intent to commit the crime, but surely alcohol played a significant role in conjunction with provocation, he said. He added that Namibian courts have considered intoxication as a mitigating factor. Judge Naomi Shivute postponed the case to March 18 for sentencing. WINDHOEK FRED GOEIEMAN