By Roland Routh
WINDHOEK – The police officer investigating the murder of a woman at Groot Aub settlement said he fears the man accused of the crime might abscond proceedings once freed on bail.
Inspector Stanley Awarab, who was the station commander at the settlement when the incident occurred, told Judge Nate Ndauendapo last week that the evidence against Gregory Kangandjera, 37, is “very strong” with a reasonable chance of a conviction.
“I am afraid that the accused before court will abscond if he is granted bail, My Lord,” Awarab said in response to a question whether he feels bail is possible or not.
Kangandjera is accused of brutally beating his pregnant girlfriend to death and then “staged” a suicide at Groot Aub.
According to the State, Kangandjera murdered 33-year-old Loretta Kruger, who was a few weeks pregnant at the time of her death, at Groot Aub during the period November 13 to 18, 2010.
Awarab told the court that he immediately suspected foul play when he saw the deceased’s body for the first time, as it was covered with bruises and cuts.
He said that the cuts looked as though the victim was dragged through thorny bush.
“Her face was swollen and both eyes were black,” he described the scene that greeted him after he was summoned.
According to Awarab, another aspect that made him suspicious was that the deceased was never reported missing despite her being missing for several days.
He told the court that when they started asking questions, the police were told that the deceased was last seen in the company of Kangandjera, fighting.
When the police questioned Kangandjera why he did not report Kruger missing, he said that it was because he was searching for her himself, the officer informed the court.
Kangandjera informed the court during his testimony that he was about to report Kruger missing when her body was found.
According to Awarab, he further became suspicious when he noticed that the rope, which was used was neatly cut in half.
He said that if the rope broke it would have had ragged ends, but this was not the case, as it looked to have been cut with a sharp object. Another thing that bothered him about the suicide, Awarab said, was the fact that the rope was tightened around the neck of the deceased, but was loosely thrown around the tree trunk. He questioned whether the rope, a piece of oil lamp wick, which he described as very strong, would have broken if it was fastened around the tree trunk. Kangandjera’s State-funded lawyer, Josua Kaumbi, tried his level best to shake the testimony of the officer by throwing conjectures at him to the point where Judge Ndauendapo had to stop him.
He also told the officer that he received instructions from Kangandjera that the officer was romantically involved with the deceased. Awarab took strong exception to that and told the court that he is a happily married man and that such “lies” could be dangerous. He informed the court that he saw the deceased for the first time when he saw her lying on the ground with the severed rope around her neck.
The bail application was postponed to January 20 for arguments.