Hunt for Stoffels killer still on

AMIDST accusations of a wrongful arrest and detention and a multi-million dollar civil claim in the Magdalena Stoffels murder case, crime experts differ on whether the trail for the killer has gone cold after almost a year.

An expert with decades of experience in police work said this week he believes the men in uniform might still possess the ‘magic bullet’ to nail the rapist and killer of the schoolgirl who was killed in Khomasdal in July 2010.The sole suspect linked to the case, Junias Fillipus, was released this month after the charges of rape and murder were withdrawn. According to police and the prosecutor’s general’s office, forensic evidence could not conclusively link Fillipus to the crime. But despite police admitting that the only official suspect in the case had to be released for lack of evidence against him, the investigative expert, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday that the Police stand a good chance if the DNA profile collected in the investigation is solid.’The DNA profile is the magic bullet. It can still connect the killer to the crime,’ he said.It remains a challenging case, but ‘if you have a solid DNA profile, then you have something to connect someone with. You have a good tool with which to exclude suspects’, he explained. Another investigative expert disagrees. He said that although there is a ‘possibility for a future match’ based on the DNA profile, the case has become hopeless. ‘How will they ever identify a suspect? Their only hope is to match a person by coincidence. I have very little hope,’ he said.Fillipus, who spent close to 300 days behind bars before his release this month, has sent a letter of demand to the police, asking for N$2,7 million as compensation for his ordeal. Titus Ipumbu, the legal practitioner representing Fillipus, wrote in the letter to Namibian Police Inspector General Sebastian Ndeitunga that his client was ‘unlawfully, wrongfully and or without reasonable cause or suspicion’ arrested and detained. As a result, the general public ‘demonstrated with anger and revulsion’ towards Fillipus, Ipumbu wrote. He added that Fillipus was found guilty by the public who ‘believed that he was the killer and rapist of the late Magdalena Stoffels’.Fillipus is demanding N$200 000 for his alleged unlawful arrest, N$2 million for the alleged unlawful detention of nine and half months and a further N$500 000 for ‘malicious prosecution’ and the disgrace he suffered during his ordeal.Inspector General Ndeitunga could not confirm on Tuesday whether the Police will fight the claim. He said that his office will act on ‘advice from our lawyers’. He did, however, deny the claims made by Fillipus that the arrest was wrongful, without reasonable cause and arbitrary.’It was not an arbitrary arrest. He was arrested on reasonable suspicion, based on the circumstances at the time. It was a reasonable decision’. He said that the arresting officer acted correctly and that ‘any reasonable person could have suspected him for being at that place washing clothes with human blood’.The issue of the alleged blood stains spotted by the arresting officers remains murky. The Police and the Prosecutor General’s office have to date declined to release information on whether the stain tested positive as human blood. Ndeitunga said yesterday that he ‘cannot at this time confirm whether it was human blood. The investigation is still going on’.Ndeitunga admitted that it was ‘unfortunate’ that the forensic analysis that was conducted ‘to see whether we had the right suspect took so long’. He admitted that he was not certain why the tests results were delayed for nine and a half months.Ndeitunga confirmed the police are continuing with their investigation.Fillipus has given the police until July 6 to respond to the claim of N$2,7 million. His lawyer informed the Police that unless the settlement is paid, Fillipus will lodge a civil case against the Minister of Safety and Security for the same amount.