WALVIS BAY – The delay of DNA results in the Shannon Wasserfall murder case could result in the provisional withdrawal of charges against accused Azaan Madisia and Junior Mulundu.
This comes after Walvis Bay magistrate Vicky Nicolaidis last Thursday, during the last court appearance of the two suspects accused of murdering Shannon Wasserfall, indicated that this will be the last remand of the case. Nicolaidis postponed the case to 16 May for the prosecutor general’s decision. According to her, it is rather disconcerting for the court that the State is still grappling with outstanding DNA, 17 months after the suspects were arrested. “Inasmuch as the offence is very serious, the matter has been on the roll for over a year and because it is so serious, I would expect that it be given some priority,” she said.
“Given the fact that accused one (Madisia) has been incarcerated for that, and also taking into account that the court will not be a participant in compromising the constitutional rights of the accused persons, I am inclined to acquiesce to the defence’s request.”
Therefore, she said, the postponement is marked as final for the prosecutor general’s decision.
Nicolaidis also indicated that a date may be arranged with all parties for a formal bail application. Legal representatives of the accused persons Albert Titus and Tanya Klazen last week objected to a further postponement. Both legal representatives confirmed that they were informed by the State that the PG’s decision is not yet ready, while the laboratory report was also still outstanding.
“It is disappointing, given the amount of time the State has had to make a decision regarding this report from the forensic science institute,” Titus submitted. Klazen, on her part, placed on record that her client Mulundu is experiencing issues at the Narraville police station where he is being detained.
“He says his complaints are not being dealt with. He has medical issues. He suffers from a heart condition and is asthmatic. He requires to be taken to a hospital or clinic. This is not being attended to, and he is not being taken to a hospital, despite his requests,” Klazen stated. Head of the National Forensic Science Institute of Namibia (NFSI), Commissioner Nelius Becker yesterday said they are experiencing a backlog in cases, and that the Wasserfall case is one of the priority cases that will be attended to. “We have over 4 700 cases that need to be tested. However, a shortage of funds is a challenge for us,” Becker stated yesterday.
Legal experts yesterday also indicated that the case would only be provisionally withdrawn if the DNA results are not available by the next court appearance. However, the case will definitely be put back on the roll once the results are available.
New Era reported earlier this year that despite the expensive nature of DNA tests, only N$8 million was allocated to the NFSI in the last financial year, which is not sufficient, considering the backlog. A DNA kit costs between N$1.5 million to N$1.7 million and only 60 cases can be completed with one kit
–edeklerk@nepc.com.na