Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Double murder accused referred to psychiatrist

Home National Double murder accused referred to psychiatrist

Windhoek

The man who allegedly murdered two women and burnt their bodies will go for mental observation.

The accused, Lukas Nicodemus, 46, made his second appearance yesterday in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court facing two counts of murder as well as a charge of obstructing the course of justice related to the manner in which he tried to dispose of the corpses.

His defence lawyer Milton Engelbrecht informed the court his application was in terms of section 77(1) of the Criminal Procedure Act and that Nicodemus should go for mental observation.

“The application is based on the fact that during consultations I could not get a proper defence for us to raise, therefore the application is based on that,” stated Engelbrecht.

Engelbrecht, who is representing Nicodemus under instructions of legal aid, said he informed the prosecutor on Tuesday about the application “and what I could gather is that he would not oppose such application,” he explained further.

Magistrate Ilge Rheent granted the request. The matter was remanded to April 8 for the accused to undergo mental observation. Nicodemus was remanded in custody. He is accused of murdering two women.The bodies of the murdered women, Clemencia de Wee, 23, and Johanny Naruses, 29, were found burning at a dumpsite in Windhoek in January. They were positively identified by family members, Inspector Slogan Matheus from the Police Public Relations Department said at the time.

When asked how he intends to plea to the charges, Nicodemus replied: “Not guilty.” Family members of the victims became very emotional when Nicodemus was brought into court in January and some could not hold back their tears. The double murder came to light when a security guard at the dumpsite in the vicinity of Pionierspark came across the smouldering remains of two people at around 06h30. Matheus said at the time that it was believed that not more than one person was involved in the murders. A black Golf GTI belonging to the suspect that reportedly had bloodstains in it was impounded after it was found abandoned at an undisclosed location in the capital.

“It is suspected that the vehicle was the mode of transport used in the commission of the crime,” Matheus said then. The relationship between the suspect and the two deceased has not yet been established.

However, it is suspected that the two women were in Nicodemus’s company before their deaths. It is understood that the police retrieved a SIM card from the crime scene, which – upon further investigation – led them to Nicodemus.