Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

NIMT killer ready for trial conclusion

Home National NIMT killer ready for trial conclusion
NIMT killer ready for trial conclusion

Ernst Lichtenstrasser, the man who shot two people at the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT)’s entrance in 2019 in cold blood, is ready to proceed with the last stretch of his trial.

About two months after he tried to commit suicide in the holding cells at the Windhoek Correctional Facility with an opioid overdose, Lichtenstrasser was back in court for a status hearing on Monday.

Deputy Judge President Hosea Angula, who conducted the hearing on behalf of retired High Court Judge Christi Liebenberg, wanted to know from the convicted killer whether he was ready to proceed without legal representation. He answered that he is ready, and will bring an application for a special entry of irregularity made in his trial record on his own. 

He had dismissed his Legal Aid lawyer Albert Titus after his conviction.

During his submissions in mitigation for sentencing, Lichtenstrasser told the court that he wanted to be sentenced to house arrest, as dying in prison would be “undignified”. 

He further told Judge Liebenberg that if he could choose, he would prefer the death sentence. Liebenberg convicted Lichtenstrasser of the murders of two of his superiors at NIMT, executive director Eckhardt Mueller, and his deputy Heinz Heimo Hellwig. 

The deceased died in the early morning hours of 15 April 2019 after being gunned down at Arandis.

The matter will now return to court on 12 March, when deputy prosecutor general Antonia Verhoef is expected to argue in aggravation of sentence. Lichtenstrasser remains in custody at the section for trial- awaiting inmates at the Windhoek Correctional Facility under suicide watch.

– rrouth@nepc.com.na