An 81-year-old man from Gobabis has been convicted of murder with direct intent by Windhoek High Court acting Judge Petrus Unengu. The judge found that Theuns Ganeb intentionally killed his live-in girlfriend, 46-year-old Nora Tsuses, during the period 9 to 10 March 2018 at the residence they shared in the Kanaan location of Epako in Gobabis by using a knopkierie and panga.
While Ganeb claimed he and the victim were attacked by an unknown male person, the judge found that this was an afterthought and is false beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Even if it is accepted that the accused was attacked by an unknown male person, he was still not justified to beat the victim in the manner he did,” the judge stated.
He further said that from the accused’s own evidence, the victim did not attack him.
“He successfully punched her to the ground immediately after she jumped on his back. She did nothing to him while on the ground. The attack, if there was any, in my view, has stopped – and as such, there was no attack to defend himself against,” the judge remarked.
According to the judge, it is clear from the evidence that the victim was clobbered all over her body with the knopkierie from her head to her toes while lying motionless on the floor in the room in the dark.
The postmortem report, he said, indicated the fact that the victim suffered multiple serious wounds to her body inflicted by the accused. According to the judge, this was clear indication that the accused assaulted the victim with the purpose of killing her.
He further said the pathologist who conducted the autopsy indicated that the blows must have been delivered with considerable force to cause the type of injuries the victim sustained.
He further said the doctor’s evidence that the victim could have gone into a coma while being beaten supports the accused’s evidence that she did not scream or shout for help while he was beating her.
In my opinion, the judge said, the accused without any justification, assaulted the victim and caused multiple injuries to her body, which caused her death immediately.
“In her testimony, the doctor said the accused must have used considerable force when hitting the deceased on the head with the knobkierie for the three layers of the head to suffer the trauma of the blows, causing bleeding in all three layers,” Judge Unengu stated.
The judge also said he was satisfied that the State has proven beyond reasonable doubt that Ganeb knew what he was doing to the victim and that he had the direct intention to kill the victim.
Ganeb was represented by lawyer Giant Kauari, instructed by legal aid and the prosecution by Timo Itula.
The matter will return to court on 9 April for pre-sentencing procedures, while Ganeb remains in custody.
Theuns Ganeb
Photo: Roland Routh