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Home / Wife accused of hiring hit squad appears in court
Wife accused of hiring hit squad appears in court
2016-11-21Staff Report 2 Windhoek The woman accused of hiring a hit squad of five men to kill her husband made her first pre-trial appearance in the Windhoek High Court last week on charges of murder, robbery, possession of drugs and defeating or obstructing the course of justice. The woman appeared with the men who are also accused of carrying out the murder. The woman, 33-year-old Annastancia Lubinda, is alleged to have hired David Matali, David Kondjara, Abuid Uazeua, Donald Hindjou and Orivitje artist Dollam Dollam Tjitjahuma to kill her husband Peter Riscoh Muleke. Muleke was 36 at the time of his death. She is charged with murder read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act while her co-accused are charged with murder. They also face a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances for robbing the deceased of his cellphone and SIM card while hitting him with stones and other unknown objects. The lifeless body of Muleke was found near Penduka at Goreangab Dam on March 30 last year. According to reports, Lubinda hired her co-accused to kill her husband for a fee of N$5 000. Uazeua and Dollam Dollam further face a charge of possession of drugs after the police found 15 grams of dagga in the room they rented in Katutura on April 1 last year. They also face a charge of defeating or obstructing the course of justice for allegedly destroying dagga inside the house after the police came knocking at the door. According to the summary of facts in the indictment, the accused conspired to kill Muleke. The state alleges Lubinda hired her co-accused to kill her husband who was a municipal worker at the time of his demise. Deputy Commissioner Sylvanus Nghishidimbwa was quoted at the time as saying the body of the deceased was found a few metres from his abandoned car at Goreangab Dam. Lubinda and three of her co-accused were arrested the following day and Nghishidimbwa previously said strong evidence existed that Lubinda was involved in the murder. Dollam Dollam and Uazeua were arrested the day after. In a confession made by Lubinda before a magistrate, Lubinda said she was a victim of domestic abuse with regular beatings and a near-fatal stabbing. This caused her to look for a way out, she said in her statement. According to her, Matali was the one that influenced her to have her husband killed and he told her about a person who can supply her with poison, but when this did not materialise he gave her a cell number of people who kill for money. She then contacted the hitmen whose initial price was N$7 000, Lubinda stated, but it was lowered to N$5 000 when she told them she cannot afford the higher price. Kondjara and Hindjou also made statements to a magistrate in which they claim that although they were present at the crime scene, they did not partake in the killing. According to them it was Uazeua and Dollam Dollam who killed the deceased with the help of Matali. According to them Lubinda was present and was telling the men ‘to make it quick’. Lubinda said in her statement that she asked her late husband to take her to Goreangab Dam on that fateful day to collect money from someone while knowing full well that the hitmen were waiting for them. 2016-11-21Staff Report 2
