Selma Ikela
Windhoek-The 39-year-old man who is alleged to have fatally shot his ex-girlfriend on Sunday morning in Windhoek is expected to make his first court appearance in the Katutura magistrate’s court today. His appearance in court yesterday did not materialise as the charge sheet was not yet finalised.
The deceased has been identified as Zya Juliet Shanè Rittmann, affectionately known as Koekie. She died from a single gunshot to her head allegedly fired by her boyfriend of five years. The couple is believed to have separated last week when Rittmann who was cohabiting with the accused in Outjomuise moved back to her mother’s place. The couple has a three-year-old son.
The man, who cannot be identified until he appears in court, first updated his Facebook status asking God to give him strength, before deactivating it.
The man, a member of the Namibia Defence Force, fled the scene where he shot the girlfriend but later handed himself over to the police. According to the police report, the man killed Rittmann with an unlicensed 9mm Makarov pistol.
A neighbour Eugenia Kisting, said the couple had a turbulent relationship. “It is not the first time he pointed a gun at her,” she said. Kisting added that she knew Rittmann had problems with her boyfriend when she left last week. According to Kisting, there was a time when the boyfriend took a knife and stabbed Rittman all over her thighs. Kisting added that she was helping Rittmann find a job as she was financially dependent on her boyfriend; she was due to hand in her curriculum vitae today at a place Kisting had identified.
Nampol spokesperson Chief Inspector Kauna Shikwambi said three cases namely, murder read with domestic violence act, possession of firearm and ammunition without a licence and negligent discharge of firearm were opened against the suspect.
According to Rittmann’s relatives, the man dropped off the couple’s son on Sunday morning after spending the night at his place. The man and the deceased were seen talking, although the nature of their conversation is not known. Relatives say it was Rittmann’s 12-year-old sister who first saw the man pull out a gun.
“She was scared to scream, so she ran around the house on the other side to inform their mother who was inside their rented backyard shack… and maybe that was when he shot her. It happened so fast,” narrated one of the relatives. The man reportedly left hastily in a car, which was waiting for him.