The State has added additional charges to the main accused in the murder case of Shannon Wasserfall.
The charges were added to the case yesterday when Azaan Madisia and her sibling co-accused Steven Mulundu appeared for plea and trial in the Walvis Bay Magistrate’s Court. Madisia, who is the main accused, now faces two counts of insurance fraud. A court source said the fraud case is linked to a personal laptop and an iPhone.
Madisia allegedly claimed that she was robbed of the laptop. She claimed it from her insurer under the pretext that they had been stolen. She did the same with the iPhone but it turned out that she sold it.
The two items are linked to the main case of murder and defeating the course of justice by burying a body of a deceased person.
The duo is accused of murdering Shannon before burying her in a shallow grave in the dunes behind the Dunes Mall. Her remains were discovered six months after her disappearance on 10 April 2020.
Madisia’s personal computer has since been seized by the police. She and her brother are charged with the murder of Shannon.
Media reports last year indicated that days before Shannon disappearance, Madisia searched for “how to dispose of a body” on the internet.
The two appeared before magistrate Vicky Nicolaidis, who postponed the case to 31 August, after their lawyer Gilroy Kasper failed to turn up for the third consecutive occasion.
The two informed the court that they had applied for state legal aid two weeks ago. Public prosecutor Maggy Shiyagaya-Lotto informed the court that the investigations into the case have been completed.
“We are just waiting for the final forensic report,” said Shiyagaya-Lotto.