Eveline de Klerk
Swakopmund-Siegfried Strzelecki, 82, the second victim of a vicious attack on an elderly couple at their home in Swakopmund last week recently, has died. The three men accused of the attack now face double murder charges.
The three men are also accused of robbing the couple at their home in Vineta, Swakopmund, where Strzelecki’s wife, Roswietha, died during the attack.
Chief Inspector Erastus Iikuyu, during the weekend’s crime briefing, told the media that Strzelecki was admitted to the Marie Douglas Frail Care Facility in Swakopmund after the brutal attack on him and his wife.
His wife succumbed during the attack, after she was severely assaulted. It was reported that her head was slammed against a wall, after which she was strangled.
“He, Strzelecki, despite being attacked survived the assault and could successfully identify one of his attackers, who had also previously worked for them.
“He, however, unfortunately died due to complications resulting from the attack,” Iikuyu said on Friday.
During the attack, the suspects managed to steal only a phone valued at N$8000, N$1000 in cash, a remote control of the house, and a pair of sandals belonging to the deceased woman, as they could not get to the contents of the couple’s safe.
The couple had replaced the locks of the safe after they lost the key. It turned out that their attackers during the robbery tried to use the lost key to open the safe.
The three suspects, Daniel Stefanus Nghilifa, 26, Jerobeam Simon Shidute, 23, and Fabianus Lazarus, 24, were denied bail earlier this month during their first appearance in the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court.
The suspects will make a second appearance on September 26 – but now face an additional murder charge.