WINDHOEK – Judge Naomi Shivute on Monday pronounced Nekongo Noabeb not guilty of murdering his girlfriend, but found him guilty of causing her death negligently.
Noabeb was convicted of culpable homicide for causing the death of the mother of his 10-year-old son, Judika Uri-Khos, by stabbing her in the leg after an argument between them during the late evening hours of December 25 and the early morning hours of December 26, 2009.
Noabeb was however found guilty of murder with direct intent on a second murder charge he faced.
“I am satisfied that the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused had a direct intent to kill when he stabbed the deceased in a vital organ of the body,” the judge remarked when she found Noabeb guilty of the murder of his nephew, Edu Noabeb, whom he stabbed with a knife in the chest on March 5, 2011 at Arandis during a quarrel between them.
Noabeb pleaded not guilty to both charges at the start of his trial in April last year. On the first count he said the deceased stabbed herself during a struggle between them.
In a plea explanation he said he, the deceased and some relatives of the deceased were drinking on the fateful day in question. On their way home a quarrel erupted between Noabeb and the deceased who fled from him with Noabeb pursuing her, the plea read.
He then caught up with the deceased and they wrestled and in the process she inflicted a stab wound on herself accidentally, the court heard.
After realising the deceased was injured, he gave her a white vest to stop the bleeding and went to a nearby farm to look for help, Noabeb told the court.
He denied killing the deceased or having any intent to kill her. Judge Shivute rejected his version of events as improbable saying there was corroborated evidence before her that Noabeb threatened the accused before the incident.
She said that she observed the State witnesses during their testimony and found them to be credible witnesses.
She said she was satisfied that it was Noabeb who inflicted the stab wound on the deceased, but the question remained whether he intended to kill her.
According to the judge, she “is not satisfied that the accused foresaw that there is reasonable possibility that death may ensue, but he decided to go ahead with his actions. However I am satisfied that the accused by stabbing the deceased with a sharp object ought reasonably to have foreseen that death may occur.”
She added, “I am therefore satisfied that the accused had caused the deceased’s death negligently and he is found guilty of culpable homicide.”
On the second count Judge Shivute was adamant Noabeb had no justification for killing the deceased who was no longer a danger to him.
“In fact, it was the deceased’s life that was in imminent danger when the accused came back armed with a knife and the deceased moved towards him in order to defend himself.” She said that concerning the type of intention Noabeb had when he killed the deceased, the court looked at the cumulative conduct of the accused, the nature of the weapon used together with the position of the body where the injury was directed.
“The evidence in this case is that the accused stabbed the deceased once in the chest cavity. The injury penetrated the heart. The stab wound was 12cm deep. The injury was directed at the vital organ of the deceased’s body,” Judge Shivute stressed.
She further stated, “I am therefore satisfied that considering the nature of the stab wound, the position where the injury was inflicted, the instrument used to inflict the injury that the accused acted with direct intent and he is found guilty of murder.”
She said he cannot claim self-defence as a defence. The matter was then postponed to March 26 for establishing former convictions and arguments in mitigation and aggravation.
Noabeb is represented by Titus Mbaeva on instructions of the Directorate of Legal Aid and State Advocate Simba Nduna appeared on behalf of the State.
By Roland Routh