One of the men accused of attacking an elderly couple, which resulted in the death of 79-year-old Roswitha Strzelecki in Swakopmund in 2017, has informed the court he cannot afford the processing fee for him to attain legal representation.
Appearing before High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg, Jerobeam Simon Shidute (26) told the court that the Directorate of Legal Aid has not yet assigned a lawyer to his case, as he could not afford the N$350 administration fee.
Judge Liebenberg advised Shidute to apply for a waiver so that he can get legal representation for his trial. Consequently, the court postponed the matter to 17 September for the mentions roll.
Shidute was arrested alongside Stefanus Nghilifa (29) and Fabianus Lazarus (27) on charges of murder, attempted murder, robbery and housebreaking.
The charges are in relation to the incident that occurred at an elderly couples’ home in Swakopmund, which left Strzelecki dead and her husband Siegfried Strzelecki (82) seriously injured.
It is alleged the group broke into the house using a duplicate key.
Nghilifa was identified by Siegfried as having renovated the couple’s house, while Shidute reportedly wore a balaclava during the robbery and home invasion.
At the time, police reports indicated the elderly woman was grabbed around the neck and her head was slammed against a wall, after which she was strangled to death.
Siegfried, who was in the other room, heard the commotion and while investigating, the accused threatened him with knives and demanded money.
The suspects could not access the content of the couple’s safe and only managed to take a phone, valued at N$8 000; cash of N$1 000; a remote control of the house, as well as sandals belonging to the deceased.
The couple had replaced the locks of the safe after the key went missing. It turned out their attackers tried to use the lost key to open the safe.
It is alleged that Lazarus, who was previously employed at the Strzelecki, may have made a duplicate of the house key and stolen the safe key, and given them to Nghilifa and Shidute to commit the crime.
After the attack, the group fled the scene.
Siegfried loosened himself and reported the matter to the neighbours, who notified the police. – mamakali@nepc.com.na