Windhoek
Gerhard Komeya, 43, will today find out whether or not he is guilty of murder.
Judge Naomi Shivute will hand down the verdict in the matter in which Komeya is charged with the murder of his live-in girlfriend, who died from a shotgun blast to the face in Hakahana, Katutura.
In May the prosecutor Cliff Lutibezi and defence counsel Monty Karuaihe made their final arguments before Judge Shivute.
Komeya, a former police officer, stands accused of shooting and killing his then 42-year-old girlfriend Kertu Maria Sheehama, a prison warden, at Hakahana informal settlement in the capital in September 2011. He allegedly shot her with a hunting rifle. Sheehama was scheduled to be transferred from Windhoek to Swakopmund as part of her promotion to a higher rank.
Lutibezi had argued that although some minor contradictions were present in the testimonies of the main state witnesses, they corroborated each other in material aspects.
He said the contradictions between the testimony of Rebekka Sheehama during the bail hearing and the main trial were minor and should not play a role in the decision of the court.
The mere fact Komeya’s own daughter, who may not be identified because she is a minor, corroborated Rebekka’s testimony, was evidence enough she was telling the truth, he argued.
Why, he asked, would the girl fabricate evidence against her own father when she had just lost one parent. There was also evidence she told the first person she saw after running out of the house that her father “shot my mother”.
He further argued that evidence was produced that more than one shot was fired, which excluded the claim of accidental shooting by Komeya.
Komeya claimed the deceased died as a result of a shot that went off accidentally, while they were struggling for the gun.
Lutibezi however argued that the evidence before court totally dispelled that notion. He told the court no explanation was forthcoming from Komeya about the presence of a live round in the shotgun. If the shot went off accidentally as claimed, Lutibezi said, “then how come there was a live round in the chamber?” He urged the court to convict Komeya on all charges.
Defence counsel Karuaihe on the other hand told the court that the whole case rests on circumstantial evidence. According to him the testimonies of the State’s own expert witnesses contradicted the testimonies of its main witnesses.
He said the doctor testified that the shot that killed the deceased could not have been fired more than 30cm from the deceased, while the so-called eyewitnesses said it was fired from four to five metres away.
While he could not explain the presence of the live shell in the gun Karuaihe, while not directly, implied the police could have had something to do with it.
“Since the moment the police arrived, my client was kept outside the house,” he said and continued that no one other than the police would know what happened inside the house.
He said the court should reject the evidence of Rebekka Sheehama and the minor as false beyond reason.
“Rebekka is full of hatred for the accused and she admitted that if she had a gun she would kill the accused, so why would she not lie to secure his conviction?” Karuaihe asked.
Karuaihe asked the court to acquit Komeya on all charges.