WINDHOEK – The former girlfriend of a man accused of the murder of his employer in Swakopmund in August 2017 yesterday effectively put him on the murder scene when she identified a cap the accused was wearing on the day of the murder.
Christofine Geirises told the court that on the morning of August 17, 2017 the accused got up to go to work at the house of 78-year-old Manfred Karl Hartmann, a pensioner from Germany who retired to Swakopmund, during the early morning hours.
She further informed the court that on that morning he put on a red cap with white stripes, and which was frayed on the front peak, before he went to the residence of the deceased.
The next time she again saw the cap was in the outside toilet at the deceased’s residence next to his dead body, the witness narrated to the court.
She said that she knows the cap as she was the one who washed it and would on occasion wear it.
The man whom she said wore the cap that morning is 27 year old Unaaro Mbemukenga, who is accused of murdering and robbing Hartmann.
He pleaded not guilty at the start of his trial and told the court he did not kill or rob anyone.
His government-sponsored lawyer, Mbanga Siyomunji, confirmed the plea and said that Mbemukenga will make use of his constitutional right to remain silent and put the proof of each and every allegation on the state.
The state is alleging the accused was employed by Hartmann as a gardener and that the accused attacked Hartmann with a brick and then bound his hands behind his back and strangled him with an electric wire that was fastened to a wash basin in an outside toilet at the deceased’s residence.
The deceased died as a result of strangulation.
Mbemukenga allegedly also robbed the deceased of N$1 500 in cash, a laptop computer, two cellphones, clothes and bedding.
Mbemukenga was arrested two days after the incident in Outjo where he was shot in the leg for trying to evade arrest.
He arrived for his subsequent court appearances in a wheelchair until a doctor he called in a bail hearing testified that he did not need the wheelchair and it was removed.
He made a confession to a magistrate in Swakopmund and pleaded guilty to a charge of murder, but made a U-turn during his bail application when he said he only made the admission because a policeman told him that he would be granted bail if he confessed.
He remains in custody after his bail request was refused.
The state is represented by Advocate Cliff Lutibezi and High Court Acting Judge Orben Sibeya is on the bench.