Windhoek
The man who stands accused of having set his alleged murder victims alight at a dumpsite in January near Pionierspark, Windhoek is still waiting to be seen by a psychiatrist.
Lukas Nicodemus, 46, made another appearance in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Friday, where his case was postponed to July 4.
State Prosecutor Ivann Tjizu told Magistrate Justine Asino that Nicodemus is number 23 on the waiting list at the Windhoek Psychiatry Unit and might only be allocated a bed in August or September.
Milton Engelbrecht, the State-funded lawyer of Nicodemus, made an application to the court during previous a court appearance that Nicodemus be subjected to a period of psychiatric observation to determine his fitness to stand trial.
At the time Engelbrecht told the court that the accused claims he cannot remember what happened and is, therefore, not able to raise a proper defence.
Magistrate Ilge Rheent granted the request.
Nicodemus faces two counts of murder, as well as a charge of obstructing the course of justice for the manner in which he allegedly tried to dispose of the bodies. According to the State, Nicodemus killed two young women and then set their remains alight.
The deceased bodies of the murdered women, Clemencia de Wee, 23, and Johanny Naruses, 29, were found burning at a dumpsite in Windhoek in January. The women were positively identified by family members, Inspector Slogan Matheus from the police public relations department said at the time.
The double murder came to light when a security guard at the dumpsite in the vicinity of Pionierspark came across the smouldering remains of two people at around 06h30 on the day in question.
Matheus said at the time it was believed that not more than one person was involved in the murders. A black Golf GTI belonging to the suspect that reportedly had bloodstains in it was impounded after it was found abandoned at an undisclosed location in the capital.
“It is suspected that the vehicle was the mode of transport used in the commission of the crime,” Matheus said then. The relationship between the suspect and the two deceased has not yet been established.
However, it is suspected that the two women were in Nicodemus’s company before their deaths. It was reported that the police retrieved a SIM card from the crime scene, which, upon further investigation, led them to Nicodemus.
During his first appearance Nicodemus informed the court that he intends to plead not guilty to the charges.