The state has shown that it has a strong case against a couple accused of murdering and robbing a NamPower engineer in his house in Windhoek, a magistrate has remarked in a ruling in which she turned down a bail application by the two accused.
According to the testimony of a police investigator during the hearing of a bail application by Windhoek residents Muningandu Kaapama (28) and Jorene Bezuidenhout (27), there is a strong circumstantial case against the couple, and if they are convicted it is likely that substantial sentences of imprisonment will be imposed on them, magistrate Jozanne Klazen said in a bail ruling delivered in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court last week.
Klazen concluded that it would not be in the interest of the public or the administration of justice for Kaapama and Bezuidenhout to be released on bail.
Kaapama and Bezuidenhout are charged with counts of murder, robbery and theft of a motor vehicle.
The state is alleging that they killed an engineer employed by NamPower, Benjamin Silombela (41), in his house in the Eros area of Windhoek on 24 May last year, robbed him and also stole a Mercedes-Benz vehicle belonging to him.
A police officer investigating the killing of Silombela, detective inspector Joseph Ndokosho, told the court during the bail hearing that Silombela was found tied up and gagged on a floor in his house after his car had been found abandoned at Okahandja.
Ndokosho said Silombela was found covered with a duvet. His hands were tied behind his back, his legs were bound, and his mouth was gagged.
He had died due to suffocation, Ndokosho said.
Bank cards, clothing, a television remote control and house keys belonging to Silombela were discovered in Bezuidenhout’s house before she was arrested on 27 May, Ndokosho said.
Silombela’s cellphone was found with Kaapama’s father, who told the police Kaapama had brought the phone to his house, Ndokosho also testified.
In affidavits submitted to the court, Kaapama and Bezuidenhout both said they had been at Silombela’s house, where they claimed they used drugs with him.
They also said they left Silombela at the house after he and Kaapama had been involved in a fight, which according to them took place after Silombela had made a sexual advance to Bezuidenhout.
Klazen noted that in their affidavits, Kaapama and Bezuidenhout did not explain or deny that Silombela was tied up and covered with a duvet and that his house was locked. They also did not deny that items belonging to Silombela were found in their possession, and did not give a reasonable explanation for their possession of those items, she added.
The state’s evidence indicates that it has a strong circumstantial case against Kaapama and Bezuidenhout, Klazen commented.
She postponed the case to 26 June after delivering her ruling.
Public prosecutor Sylvia Kauluma represented the state.
Defence lawyers Susan Nyatondo and Janita von Wielligh represented Kaapama and Bezuidenhout, respectively.
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