A Gobabis farm resident, accused of murdering his commonlaw wife at a farm in the district, told the court yesterday that he
wants to plead guilty for causing the death of his partner, but insists he did not kill her.
This caused Judge Dinah Usiku to ask the State-funded lawyer of Paulus Shilongo, 32, to explain what the accused meant
by this contradiction. Trevor Brockerhoff, who was appointed by legal aid to represent Shilongo, then told the judge it was his instruction that Shilongo admits that his assault on the deceased caused her death, but it was not his intention to kill her.
The State alleges Shilongo intentionally killed Dina Eises, with whom he was in a domestic relationship, by continuously
assaulting her with various objects, including stones and a plastic pipe during the period of November 8 to 9, 2012.
“My Lady”, Brockerhoff told the court, “it was our intention from the start of the pre-trail stages to plead guilty to the lesser
competent charge of culpable homicide, but the State refused to accept such a plea.”
He further told the court that Shilongo – in the absence of an agreement with the State – will plead not guilty to the charge
of murder. His defence will be that he did not have the intention to kill the deceased, nor did he foresee that she could die as a
result of the attack on her. State Advocate Henry Muhongo informed the court the State would not accept a charge less than murder with direct intent, read with the provisions of the Domestic Act and intends to prove its case on the basis of the evidence.
According to the indictment Shilongo assaulted Eises by pushing her, kicking her, slapping her, tearing off her clothes,
hitting her with stones on her head and hitting her with a plastic pipe on November 8, 2012 on Farm Tredgold in the Gobabis
District. It is further stated in the indictment that Shilongo then dragged the deceased to their shack, situated at a cattle post
on a neighbouring farm, Geluk, where the assault continued into the early morning hours of November 9, 2012.
The deceased died as a result of head injuries caused by the assault. The accused covered her body with a blanket inside the shack
and locked the shack with a chain and padlock before fleeing the scene, the indictment reads. The case is set down until
February 19, with the State expected to call 26 witnesses. Shilongo remains in custody