The lawyer representing a former senior police officer attached to the Women and Child Protection Unit in Keetmanshoop last week informed Windhoek High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg that his client is being assessed by a State psychiatrist.
Boris Isaacks informed the judge that former detective Warrant Officer Morgan Brian Plaatjie (45) has been admitted to the Windhoek Central Hospital’s psychiatric ward.
The judge ordered that he must be evaluated by a psychiatrist in the employment of the State and by a private psychiatrist.
Plaatjie is facing one charge of housebreaking with the intent to murder and murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act; one count of attempted murder; two counts of contravening the Combating of Domestic Violence Act – contravening a protection order; one count of assault by threat and one count of malicious damage to property, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act.
It is alleged by the State that during the period 25 to 26 June 2021 in Keetmanshoop, the accused broke down the door of Yvette Sharon Louw (38) by kicking open the door with the intent to murder Louw, and did then and there unlawfully and intentionally kill Louw by stabbing her several times with a knife.
The attempted murder charge relates to an incident on the same date when he unlawfully and intentionally assaulted Dawid Jansen by stabbing him multiple times with the intention to murder him.
With regards to contravening a protection order, it is alleged that Plaatjie contravened the provisions of a protection order that the victim has taken out against him on two occasions.
The assault by threat charge is in relation to an incident when Plaatjie allegedly threatened to kill or beat her in circumstances where she believed he had the intention and means to carry out his threat and caused her to flee her residence. The malicious damage charge reflects an incident when he unlawfully and intentionally destroyed her TV set.
According to the summary of substantial facts in the indictment, the accused and Louw were involved in a romantic relationship from which two children were born to them.
However, two years before her death, she terminated the relationship and moved into her residence in Keetmanshoop’s Tseiblaagte residential area.
Due to ongoing assaults and threats of assault by Plaatjie, the victim applied and obtained a protection order against Plaatjie, valid until August 2022.
He, however, violated the protection order on 7 May 2021 when he came to her house and insulted and threatened her, and then damaged her TV set.
She opened a criminal case against him, and he was arrested and granted bail.
It is further stated that the accused again went to the victim’s house during the late-night hours of 25 June 2021, where he found the victim and her new boyfriend, Jansen, and started stabbing the boyfriend, causing him to flee.
He thereafter proceeded to attack the victim by stabbing her several times with a knife, causing her to seek shelter.
He broke down the front door and the door of the toilet where locked herself and continued to stab the victim until she collapsed.
He then called the police and reported that he killed the victim.
The police arrived and took the victim to the hospital, where she died due to blood loss and injuries caused by stab wounds.
The matter will return to court on 20 October for a status report on the mental observation.
Deputy prosecutor general Antonia Verhoef represented the State.
– rrouth@nepc.com.na