WINDHOEK – A Keetmanshoop resident already serving a sentence of 53 years for the rape and murder of a 55-year-old school teacher in Keetmanshoop in 2007 disputed some of his previous convictions in court yesterday.
After Deputy Prosecutor Karin Esterhuizen read the previous convictions of Quinton Pieters his State-funded lawyer, Titus Iipumbu, informed Judge Naomi Shivute that he objected to the previous convictions being admitted to court.
Iipumbu told the judge that Pieters did not want to advance to him the reasons for his objection, and asked the court to enquire from the convict himself.
“My Lady, we all know the kind of person the accused is,” Iipumbu told the judge when she enquired as to why Pieters does not want to instruct him regarding the reasons.
Pieters through the interpreter objected to being called “that kind of person,” and said he was not mentally disturbed.
He admitted the previous conviction for which he is currently in jail, but disputed the ones before.
Esterhuizen informed the court earlier that Pieters has previous convictions dating from 1995 when he was initially arrested and convicted for possession of cannabis.
Furthers convictions followed for breaking and entering, theft, malicious damage to property and rape for which he served various prison terms.
According to Pieters, his fingerprints did not match those on the previous conviction rap sheets.
All of this happened when evidence in mitigation and aggravation was heard for the sentence he is to receive on top of the 53 years for the rape, robbery and murder of Magda Maas, a retired teacher in Keetmanshoop.
In the present matter he was convicted of three counts of rape and one count of attempted rape as well as a count of theft and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm involving minor children and a young girl.
The matter was postponed to March 26 for his fingerprints to be taken and compared to those of the previous convictions.