SWAKOPMUND – Double murder accused Ernst Lichtenstrasser has pleaded not guilty on all charges when he appeared in the Swakopmund Magistrate’s Court on Monday. Lichtenstrasser is facing two counts of murder, defeating the course of justice, illegal possession of a firearm and live ammunition. He was arrested in April last year following the alleged killing of Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT) executives Eckhart Mueller and Heimo Hellwig at the Arandis campus on 15 April last year as they reported for duty.
The double murder case has now been referred to the prosecutor general. The State, during their investigation, told the court they found tyre tracks, footprints and a murder weapon in the desert, as well as cartridges from the murder scene that were tested and matched those collected from a shooting range that allegedly linked Lichtenstrasser to the double murder. Public prosecutor Johannes Shangadi on Monday told the court they obtained the DNA results and that of a gun bolster that delayed the case. Magistrate Nelao Brown said Lichtenstrasser’s appearance was just for him to formally plea before his docket is forwarded to the prosecutor general. Brown then postponed the case to 20 April, pending the prosecutor general’s decision. Lichtenstrasser is currently in police custody and is detained at a Windhoek prison.
-edeklerk@nepc.com.na