Siblings jailed at end of Wasserfall trial

Walvis Bay siblings Azaan Madisia and Steven Mulundu were both sentenced to terms of imprisonment when their trial in connection with the death of a young woman, Shanon Wasserfall, came to an end in the Windhoek High Court on Tuesday.

Judge Christie Liebenberg sentenced Madisia (31) to an effective jail term of six years on a charge of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, and two counts of insurance fraud.

Madisia’s brother and co-accused during their trial, Steven Mulundu (25), who was also found guilty of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, was sentenced to an effective prison term of four years.

The 21-year-old Wasserfall disappeared on 10 April 2020, after a visit to Madisia’s flat at Walvis Bay.

She was missing for six months before her skeletal remains were found in October 2020, buried in a shallow grave near the harbour town’s Dunes Mall.

Madisia was arrested in connection with Wasserfall’s death the day after that discovery. Mulundu was arrested on the same charges a month later.

During their trial before Liebenberg, Madisia told the court Wasserfall had died accidentally in her flat, after she had hit her head against a wall when she fell over a bed. Madisia said Wasserfall fell after she (Madisia) had pushed her while the two of them were involved in a physical altercation.

Madisia and Mulundu admitted they took Wasserfall’s body out of the flat and transported her to a place where they buried her among the dunes near Dunes Mall.

In a judgement delivered on 16 May, Liebenberg acquitted both Madisia and Mulundu of murder, after finding that the state did not prove Madisia had an intention to kill Wasserfall when she pushed her. He also found that the evidence before him did not show Madisia should have foreseen the possibility that Wasserfall could be killed when she pushed her away from herself, adding that her actions could not be found to have been negligent either.

The cause of Wasserfall’s death could not be determined when her remains were examined after their discovery.

Madisia and Mulundu have both been held in custody since their arrests.

• Read more in the next edition of The Namibian.