NEWS - NAMIBIA
| 2013-08-02Knife killer gets November trial date
Werner Menges
A RESIDENT of Otjiwarongo who admitted that he killed someone in December 2010 by stabbing him repeatedly with a hunting knife is due to hear the verdict in his trial in the High Court at the beginning of November.
Elias Nghiikovali Lukas (29) pleaded not guilty to a murder charge at the start of his trial before Judge Naomi Shivute in the Windhoek High Court.
His defence lawyer, Titus Ipumbu, argued this week that Lukas was acting in self-defence when he carried out the stabbing which claimed the life of the 26-year-old Malakia Matias at Otjiwarongo during the night of 16-17 December 2010.
Lukas did not intend to kill Matias when he stabbed him multiple times, Ipumbu also argued.
State advocate Ethel Ndlovu asked the judge to find Lukas guilty of murder, committed with a direct intention to kill.
She argued that Lukas stabbed Matias not because he was trying to defend himself from an attack by Matias, but because he and Matias had clashed over Lukas’s former girlfriend, who was in Matias’s company that night.
Judge Shivute reserved her judgement after hearing the arguments. The verdict is to be delivered on 1 November.
Lukas remains out of custody on bail in the meantime.
Matias died after being stabbed 11 times with a large hunting knife. He was stabbed seven times in the chest and once in the back, and died as a result of injuries to his liver and one lung, the court has been told.
Lukas testified during the trial that he encountered Matias when he visited his former girlfriend’s house late at night, after he had seen her and Matias together at a bar.
When they met at the bar Matias pushed him and insulted him, calling him a “moegoe”, which he regarded as being called a useless person, he said.
When he and Matias again met at his ex-girlfriend’s house, Matias again pushed him, Lukas testified. He said he got angry and pushed Matias back, and that Matias then punched him on his chin.
Lukas further claimed that Matias then drew out a knife and stabbed at him. He tried to block the blow, and received a cut to his left hand in the process, he said.
“From there I also drew my knife and, and I, I stabbed him,” Lukas recalled, haltingly.
The first stab was to Matias’s chest, he said.
Lukas continued: “After the first stab he then ran away and I then ran after him. I caught up with him. That’s when I stabbed him again on the back and on the front.”
He cannot recall how many times he stabbed Matias after catching up with him, Lukas said. He only stopped stabbing Matias when Matias started to scream and he realised he was hurting him, he said.
Elias Nghiikovali Lukas (29) pleaded not guilty to a murder charge at the start of his trial before Judge Naomi Shivute in the Windhoek High Court.
His defence lawyer, Titus Ipumbu, argued this week that Lukas was acting in self-defence when he carried out the stabbing which claimed the life of the 26-year-old Malakia Matias at Otjiwarongo during the night of 16-17 December 2010.
Lukas did not intend to kill Matias when he stabbed him multiple times, Ipumbu also argued.
State advocate Ethel Ndlovu asked the judge to find Lukas guilty of murder, committed with a direct intention to kill.
She argued that Lukas stabbed Matias not because he was trying to defend himself from an attack by Matias, but because he and Matias had clashed over Lukas’s former girlfriend, who was in Matias’s company that night.
Judge Shivute reserved her judgement after hearing the arguments. The verdict is to be delivered on 1 November.
Lukas remains out of custody on bail in the meantime.
Matias died after being stabbed 11 times with a large hunting knife. He was stabbed seven times in the chest and once in the back, and died as a result of injuries to his liver and one lung, the court has been told.
Lukas testified during the trial that he encountered Matias when he visited his former girlfriend’s house late at night, after he had seen her and Matias together at a bar.
When they met at the bar Matias pushed him and insulted him, calling him a “moegoe”, which he regarded as being called a useless person, he said.
When he and Matias again met at his ex-girlfriend’s house, Matias again pushed him, Lukas testified. He said he got angry and pushed Matias back, and that Matias then punched him on his chin.
Lukas further claimed that Matias then drew out a knife and stabbed at him. He tried to block the blow, and received a cut to his left hand in the process, he said.
“From there I also drew my knife and, and I, I stabbed him,” Lukas recalled, haltingly.
The first stab was to Matias’s chest, he said.
Lukas continued: “After the first stab he then ran away and I then ran after him. I caught up with him. That’s when I stabbed him again on the back and on the front.”
He cannot recall how many times he stabbed Matias after catching up with him, Lukas said. He only stopped stabbing Matias when Matias started to scream and he realised he was hurting him, he said.
