Windhoek
Judge Alfred Siboleka yesterday expressed the concern the courts have over murder in domestic settings when he sentenced a 66-year-old man, who was convicted of two murders, to 55 years’ imprisonment.
Eliakim Nampindi, 66, will probably spend his remaining years behind bars after he was sentenced to 20 years for the murder of Paul Fredericks, 46, at Hoachanas in the Mariental District on March 5, 2009 and 35 years for the murder of his partner Anetta Jantjies during the period of August 3 to 4, 2011 at Kalkrand, while out on bail for the first murder. At the time of the murder he failed to appear in court on an outstanding police warrant.
The judge recounted that after Nampindi stabbed Rooinasie in the back, Jantjies managed to leave the scene for fear of her life. “There was a break during which the accused could have reflected on the injury he had inflicted on Salmon Rooinasie,which he did not do,” said Judge Siboleka who also noted Nampindi turned on the victim when she returned home later that evening.
He was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for attempting to kill Salmon Rooinasie by stabbing him with a knife or sharp object in his back. The eight years were ordered to run concurrently with the sentence of 20 years, leaving Nampindi with an effective 55-year prison sentence.
Judge Siboleka said the age of Nampindi is by far outweighed by the horrendous manner in which he killed both victims.
“The accused held each of the two deceased firm with his left hand, and stabbed them numerous times with a knife in his right hand,” the judge stated. The stomach of Jantjies was severely slit open in such a manner her intestines came out.
Judge Siboleka said that in the interests of the community the courts are required to hand down sentences that embrace the society’s protection from dangerous criminals. “This, in my view, will assist to dissuade people from resorting to violent means as a way of resolving differences” Judge Siboleka stated.
He quoted a judgement from former High Court Judge Mavis Gibson who in sentencing Nampindi on a previous conviction for murder said: “In this case you of all people should have known better because you have been previously jailed and served a prison sentence for an offence of the unlawful killing of another human being. Although that event occurred a long time ago in 1983, one cannot ignore it because it shows that you have a tendency for an ungovernable temper. With that history behind you, you should have known better and controlled your anger because you should have realised that giving vent to one’s feelings in that manner leads to unpleasant consequences and results. The consequences may have been unpleasant to you but were devastating to your victim because he is no longer.”
Nampindi previously spent three years in jail for a conviction of culpable homicide in 1983 and subsequently another 16 years in prison for a murder conviction in 1997.
However, the judge said, the last transgression is 17 years and ten months old and can therefore not be held against him. Nampindi was represented by Mbanga Siyomunji on instructions from the Department Legal Aid, and the State by State Advocate Ethel Ndlovu.