A young man accused of murdering two people in separate knife stabbings at Gobabis and also raping a child in a previous incident is scheduled to go on trial in the Windhoek High Court in May.
John Mutirua (23) was informed of his trial dates during a pretrial hearing before acting deputy judge president Nate Ndauendapo yesterday.
Ndauendapo said Mutirua’s trial is scheduled to start on 19 May and run until 30 May, and that it would continue from 23 June to 18 July.
Mutirua is charged with 14 counts, including two counts of murder, five counts of rape, and two counts of attempted murder.
The state is alleging that Mutirua abducted or kidnapped a nine-year-old girl and also kidnapped two boys, aged 10 and eight, at Gobabis on 23 September 2018.
It is also alleged that Mutirua raped the girl four times and caused one of the boys to commit a sexual act with her as well, before fleeing from the scene where he had tied up the children.
Some two years after that incident, the state is alleging, Mutirua murdered a 19-year-old man, Meno Tjizera, in the Epako area of Gobabis during the night of 30 to 31 October 2020 and tried to kill another man after that incident.
Tjizera died after he had been stabbed in the chest at a wedding celebration where he was a guest.
In its indictment, the state is alleging that Mutirua had been involved in an altercation with one of the wedding guests and that other guests tried to disarm him by taking a knife from him.
However, he allegedly had a second knife with him and used that to stab Tjizera in the chest, with fatal results.
The second murder charge that Mutirua is facing originates from an incident at Gobabis on 16 July 2023.
The state is claiming that Mutirua robbed a man, Albertus Maasdorp (37), of N$1 300 in the Epako area of Gobabis.
After that incident, Maasdorp’s girlfriend went to Mutirua’s residence, where she took bedding to keep as security until Mutirua had repaid the money allegedly stolen from Maasdorp.
Having heard of this event, Mutirua allegedly went to look for Maasdorp and vowed to stab him to death.
After finding Maasdorp in a bar, Mutirua stabbed him in the chest and then fled from the scene and threw away the knife used in the stabbing, the state is alleging. Before that, the state is claiming that he had also stabbed another man in the shoulder.
The Directorate of Legal Aid has instructed lawyer Laura Pack to represent Mutirua during his trial.
Mutirua is being held in custody.
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