Former Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (Nimt) employee Ernst Lichtenstrasser, who has been convicted of murdering the two top executives of the institute, has dismissed the lawyer who handled his defence during his trial in the Windhoek High Court.
Legal aid defence lawyer Albert Titus notified judge Christie Liebenberg in writing on Thursday last week that he would be withdrawing from Lichtenstrasser’s trial.
This was after Lichtenstrasser (62) informed Titus the previous day that he did not want Titus to continue representing him, and that he would instead be without legal representation in the next stage of his trial.
Appearing in court before Liebenberg yesterday, Lichtenstrasser told the judge he decided to terminate his representation by Titus because the lawyer indicated to him he was not available to apply for a special entry to be made of an irregularity in his trial.
Lichtenstrasser on Wednesday last week filed an application for a special entry of an irregularity in his trial to be made.
In the application, he is claiming his right to a fair trial was violated as a result of irregularities, and is also asking that proceedings in his trial be halted until a ruling has been made on his application for what he terms “a special review”.
After finding Lichtenstrasser guilty on eight charges – including two counts of murder – nearly two weeks ago, Liebenberg was set to hear testimony and oral arguments yesterday on the sentences that are to be handed to Lichtenstrasser.
Following Titus’ withdrawal, however, Lichtenstrasser told the judge he was not medically fit, as he was on medication that made him feel unwell.
Liebenberg adjourned proceedings to today.
Lichtenstrasser was found guilty on two counts of murder and charges of possession of a firearm and ammunition without a licence, attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice, theft, possession of a firearm without a licence and unauthorised supply of a firearm and ammunition on 2 November.
Five of the charges are linked to the murder of Nimt executive director Eckhart Mueller (72) and his deputy, Heimo Hellwig (60), who were gunned down at the Nimt head office at Arandis on 15 April 2019.
Lichtenstrasser was also convicted on three charges connected to the theft of a shotgun from a gunsmith at Grootfontein during the second half of 2016, and the supply of that firearm to an employee of Lichtenstrasser in northern Namibia.
Lichtenstrasser denied guilt on all eight counts during his trial, which started in February 2021.
In the judgement that he delivered nearly two weeks ago, Liebenberg concluded that ballistics evidence showed a disassembled 9mm pistol that police officers found buried in the desert near Arandis a month after the fatal shooting at the Nimt head office was used to commit the murders.
The same firearm was ballistically linked to cartridge cases and a bullet found at the crime scene, and to cartridge cases found at a shooting range on a farm in the Tsumeb area that had been used by Lichtenstrasser, and at his home at Otavi.
DNA samples collected from the firearm parts and a gun holster that the police found buried near Arandis matched Lichtenstrasser’s DNA profile, further linking him to the murder weapon.
The judge also noted in his judgement that Lichtenstrasser had been involved in a dispute with the Nimt management about a decision to transfer him from the institute’s campus at Tsumeb, which was close to his home at Otavi, to the Nimt campus at Keetmanshoop, before Mueller and Hellwig were murdered.
Lichtenstrasser was arrested at Karibib during the evening of 16 April 2019, and has been held in custody since then.
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