Murder accused has mental illness

A MAN who was accused of a criminal rampage during which a murder, rape, attempted murder and attempted rape were committed at Otjimbingwe in January 2012 must be detained in a mental hospital until the President authorises his release.

This was ordered by Judge Naomi Shivute in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.

Judge Shivute made the order after pronouncing Gotlieb Gariseb (35) not guilty on the charges he had been facing – but with the rider that the verdict was because of a mental illness or defect on the part of Gariseb.

Gariseb’s trial came to an end after Judge Shivute had been informed that a state psychiatrist, Dr Hilen Ndjaba, found that he has schizophrenia, is not fit to be tried, could not follow court proceedings and is not accountable for the alleged crimes he committed.

After the prosecution presented the testimony of 24 witnesses to the court, Gariseb was testifying in his own defence when his lawyer, Mbanga Siyomunji, expressed doubts about the mental health of his client and asked that his mental condition be evaluated.

Gariseb was accused of having raped and murdered a 64-year-old woman, Theresia Tsuses, at Otjimbingwe in the Karibib district on 24 January 2012. The prosecution alleged that Tsuses was strangled with a piece of clothing, and that she was raped or that her assailant left her with her private parts exposed.

He was also accused of having tried to rape and strangle a young woman at Otjimbingwe on the same day that Tsuses was killed.

Gariseb exhibited some unusual behaviour at the start of his trial already, when he responded to a question about what his plea on the murder charge was by stating: “I already said I am not guilty. They must go and ask the river.”

In a psychiatric evaluation report provided to the judge yesterday, Dr Ndjaba stated that during the period that Gariseb was under observation in September, he was hearing voices and seeing things that other people could not see. He was also obsessed with sexual issues.

He was not able to give an account of the crimes he was accused of, but “was just demanding to go home and that he should be given money to buy wine”, Dr Ndjaba reported.

She concluded that Gariseb has schizophrenia.