Roland Routh
WINDHOEK – A resident of Tses in the Keetmanshoop District denied charges of murder, rape, defeating or attempting to defeat the course of justice, assault by threat and attempted murder when he appeared before the Windhoek High Court yesterday before Judge Naomi Shivute.
Jesaja Boois answered not guilty through an interpreter after State Advocate Ethel Ndlovu put each charge to him.
He is accused of raping and killing Bonaventura Jahs in Tses during the period September 2 to September 3, 2014. He is also charged with assault by threat for threatening to stab his ex-girlfriend Anna Marie Links with a broken wine bottle on Tuesday September 2, 2014 and further faces a charge of attempted murder for allegedly attacking Lesley Tiboth in the holding cells at the Tses police station by pushing him and slapping him in the face, as well as hitting him with broomstick on the head and stabbing him on the head with a broken piece of the broomstick.
He is also charged with defeating or obstructing or attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice by cleaning up the ground around the deceased’s body, dressing the deceased’s body with a purple legging and hiding the deceased’s dress/blouse in a culvert pipe as well as hiding the deceased’s cellphone and SIM card by burying it in the ground.
According to the State, Boois did all this to frustrate police investigations into the disappearance and possible murder of the deceased.
His State-funded lawyer, Titus Mbaeva, informed the court the pleas are in accordance with his instructions and that Boois’ defence is a blanket denial that he was responsible for the offences.
According to the indictment, Boois met his former girlfriend, Links, in Tses on the Tuesday in question and caused trouble by insisting to know who she was dating.
When he did not receive an answer to his liking he threatened to assault Links, but after she went to the police station for assistance he was warned to behave.
However, later that evening he went to a bar in Tses where he found the deceased and declared publicly that he will have intercourse with her, but she brushed off his intentions by telling him that she will not have intercourse with him.
During the early hours of Wednesday, September 3, the deceased left the bar and was on her way home on foot when the accused attacked her and dragged her to a nearby riverbed where he violated her, the indictment states. During the rape he allegedly suffocated the deceased and she died on the scene.
After his evil deed he proceeded to clean up the scene, the indictment states.
While in police custody, on June 21, 2015 the accused allegedly accused Tiboth of causing his insomnia and attacked Tiboth, causing him injuries to the extent that he, Boois, was charged with attempted murder.
The trial continues today and Boois remains in custody at the Windhoek Correctional Facility’s section for trial-awaiting inmates.