Roland Routh
Windhoek-The defence counsel of a man convicted of killing his estranged wife by stabbing her 12 times with a knife in her upper body and leaving her to die while he walked away, asked the court to show mercy on him and not destroy his life.
Jan Wessels who appeared on behalf of Johannes Jacobs, 48, told High Court Judge Dinah Usiku that a very long custodial sentence would in essence destroy any chance Jacobs has of resuming a normal life after jail.
During his testimony in mitigation, Jacobs told the judge that he has five children of whom the youngest is one year and six months old and was born from a new relationship after the passing of his wife.
He told the court he regretted the passing away of his wife and asked the court to give him a chance to be there for his youngest child.
Judge Usiku found Jacobs guilty of intentionally killing his wife, Sophia Lucia Jacobs, 41, by stabbing her 12 times with a knife in the chest and back at Blouwes Primary School and Hostel in the Keetmanshoop area, before fleeing the scene. The deceased died the next day in the Keetmanshoop hospital due to her injuries.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge and claimed his wife fell on the knife while they were struggling for it and that caused the fatal stab wounds.
The two killing blows were one 110mm deep wound that penetrated the left ventricle of the heart and one wound that penetrated the upper left lung, which caused massive bleeding.
The judge found that Jacobs acted with the subjective intention to kill his wife when he stabbed her with extreme force in an exceptionally vulnerable part of the body.
State Advocate Hesekiel Ipinge asked the court to remove Jacobs from society for a long time as he is clearly a danger to society. He further said the use of knives to commit heinous crimes has become an almost daily occurrence in Namibia and a serious message must be sent out to would-be offenders that the court will not tolerate this tendency.
He argued that society relies on the courts to stop the carnage that is killing children and women.
Judge Usiku postponed the matter to March 7 when she will deliver her sentence.