WINDHOEK – Three suspects in the alleged murder of University of Namibia employee Gideon ‘Jimmy’ Shililifa appeared before the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court last week Tuesday.
Gideon Kalume (24), Samuel Linelao Shawelaka (19) and Behji Lebereki alias ‘Cowen’ appeared on two counts of breaking and entering with intent to rob and robbery. They also face one count of murder in the shocking Hochland Park gang-style murder of Shililifa. Since the prosecutor for A court was indisposed, the court could only start after cases in D court were dealt with, which led to a delay of at least three hours. The matter was postponed to February 12 for the docket to be produced and magistrate Tuvoye Nuule ordered it a final remand for further investigation, since it was the third time the matter had to be postponed for the same reason.
After the main case was postponed Kalume appeared again for his bail application hearing, which was postponed to February 17. Lebereki was the last suspect to be added to the charge sheet after he managed to evade arrest for a couple of weeks until he was caught during yet another housebreaking. The three accused are allegedly responsible for a spate of armed robberies in the last week of September last year that culminated in the senseless killing of Shililifa. The state strenuously objected to bail on the grounds that the accused face serious charges, as well as the fact that the investigation is still in its infancy. During their first appearance before Magistrate Helvi Shilemba in October last year Kalume strongly objected to being part of a murder, saying he only knows about the robbery. It is alleged that Kalume, Shawelaka and ‘Cowen’ broke into a flat in Ausspanplatz on September 23 armed with a firearm and knife and stole items worth more over N$37 000. The second count relates to a break-in at Mozart Manor in Windhoek West in which four persons held the occupants at gun-and-knife point and robbed them of two laptops, a flat screen TV, a play station and four cellphones. It is further alleged that they stole a Golf 5, which was later used in the killing of Shililifa and was found abandoned in Otjomuise.
By Roland Routh