Eveline de Klerk
Swakopmund-The three men accused of viciously attacking and robbing an elderly couple at their home, in the process killing 79-year-old Rosvietha Strzeleki, made their first appearance in the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
The three suspects – 26-year-old Daniel Stefanus Nghilifa, 23-year-old Jerobeam Simon Shidute and 24-year-old Fabianus Lazarus – were denied bail by the magistrate Jorina Jagger due to the seriousness of the case, as pointed out by the prosecutor Dyon Quickfall.
The three men were arrested two days after carrying out the attack and robbery.
The three suspects killed Strzeleki during the vicious robbery while the 82-year-old husband, Siegfried, sustained various injuries.
Preliminary investigations indicate the frail elderly woman was grabbed around the neck and her head was slammed against a wall, after which she was strangled to death.
The suspects could not access the content of the couple’s safe and only managed to take a phone valued at N$8,000, cash of N$1,000, a remote control of the house as well as sandals belonging to the deceased.
The couple had replaced the locks of the safe after the key went missing. It turned out their attackers tried to use the lost key to open the safe.
The fourth suspect, 39-year-old Sakarias Ngeda, was released as he convinced investigators he was not involved in the attack. Ngeda recently did some renovations for the couple.
One of the robbers is believed to have worked for the couple at some stage.
The case was postponed to September 26 for them to apply for legal representation as well as formally apply for bail.