Iuze Mukube
On Tuesday, Windhoek High Court Judge Claudia Claasen found Mecthilde Karomo guilty of murdering her boyfriend and his girlfriend by setting fire to the house where they were sleeping.
“Holistically considered, the accused’s version amounts to a bare, exculpatory, and unsupported denial in light of the persuasive and strong evidence presented by the State,” said the judge.
She also found that the evidence from the first two State witnesses was unshaken, matched the confession’s narrative of an escalating physical altercation between herself and the deceased.
She added that those witnesses’ evidence interlocked on the description of the physical altercation and the accused effectively uttered a threat that the deceased, Leonard Haupindi Kadubuli, will not sleep in that house (with the deceased in count 2, Anastasia Ihemba Matende, inside), and that the accused will burn the house.
“This aligns with the motive described by the accused in her confession.” Judge Claasen added.
Claasen also found that later that night, the house of Kadubuli was, in fact, on fire; the house burnt, and the occupants died because of the fire.
The judge further found that by setting fire to a small shack at night, knowing that her boyfriend and his new girlfriend were inside or likely to be inside, the accused thereby subjectively foresaw the possibility that they could be trapped, suffocate, or burn to death.
She added that Karomo reconciled herself to the risk, as after setting the place alight, she went home and nonchalantly listened to music with her earphones.
She stated that the evidence of two State witnesses established that the accused and Kadubuli had been in physical conflict, close in time to the killing.
Evidence further displays the hostility and threats towards the deceased in the two murder counts and provides a realistic context in which a confession that the accused killed the said persons later that night becomes much more credible than had there been no animosity at all.
“The defence claims that the accused knows nothing about the fire, nor did she start it; that is, a bare denial.”
She accordingly rejected the accused’s version of bare denial, rejected it as false beyond doubt and convicted her of the two counts of murder with dolus eventualis and arson with direct intent.
She found her not guilty on an alternative charge of malicious damage to property.
Karomo faced two counts of murder, arson and an alternative count of malicious property damage.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The charges follow the death of Kadubuli and Matende on 26 December 2022, where it is alleged that Karomo intentionally killed her ex-boyfriend and his then-alleged girlfriend by setting Kadubuli’s shack on fire.
It is alleged that the incident occurred due to relationship issues, as on 25 December 2022, Karomo allegedly threatened Kadubuli that she would set his house on fire after an altercation between them.