WINDHOEK – A Karasburg resident was convicted by Judge Nate Ndauendapo in the Windhoek High Court on all the serious charges he faced.
Jacobus Jossop was convicted of two murders and various attempted murders and assaults, malicious damage to property and defeating or attempting to defeat the course of justice.
The conviction was announced last Friday.
Judge Ndauendapo said the evidence of Jossop was clearly false and stood to be rejected while the evidence delivered by the state witnesses on material aspects remained unshaken.
“The witnesses for the prosecution were extensively cross-examined,” the judge said and continued that they did not contradict each other in material aspects.
He also said that in his view the state witnesses were “credible witnesses”.
He said the same cannot be said for Jossop.
“He for instance lied to the court as to how the fights with the deceased persons started,” he said.
Jossop told the court the deceased invited him for a fight and that deceased 1 took out an okapi knife and said he would stab him.
“There was no evidence to support that,” the judge stressed.
Jossop was charged with killing Isak Shikongo and Johannes Matroos just minutes apart on January 23, 2009 at Farm Klein Wortel in Karasburg district.
He was further accused of assaulting Gregorius Morongwe Brunzel by hitting him with his head the same evening and that he broke a radio and set on fire a duvet, mattress and clothing belonging to his aunt Johanna and Matroos.
He was further charged with attempted murder in that he allegedly stabbed Richelin Snewe and Indira Bloodstaan and that he hit Belinda Guriras on the head with a bottle on December 21, 2011 in Keetmanshoop with the intention to murder.
The defeating of justice charge stems from the stabbing of Snewe as the latter is a witness in the murder trial according to the indictment.
Jossop admitted he stabbed the deceased and damaged the property, but denied he committed the other offences for which he was charged.
In defence he said both deceased provoked him.
Judge Ndauendapo said the stabbing to death of the deceased was witnessed by the witnesses who testified in court.
“The evidence the accused stabbed the deceased persons to death with the knife and the sheep shears was overwhelmingly and undeniable,” the judge remarked.
He further said the belated attempt by Jossop to shift the blame for the attacks on the deceased was not borne out by the evidence and clearly false and stood to be rejected in its entirety.
According to the judge, Jossop had the direct intention to kill the deceased person as he directed his blows with severe force to the most vulnerable parts of the bodies.
In the end, the judge said, the State proved the allegations against Jossop without reasonable doubt and he was thus convicted accordingly.
Jossop was represented by Eva Shifotoka instructed by legal aid and the State by Advocate Erich Moyo.
By Roland Routh
rrouth@newera.com.na