New stabbing charges add to suspect’s woes

By: WERNER MENGES

A YOUNG man accused of murdering two people in a stabbing at Karasburg in January 2009 is facing an additional four charges following his release on bail late last year.

Not only have the charges against Jakobus Jossop (25) increased from four counts to eight, but Jossop also has to find a new lawyer to represent him, after his defence counsel, Mese Tjituri, announced his withdrawal from Jossop’s case yesterday.
Tjituri told Judge Nate Ndauendapo in the High Court in Windhoek that he was withdrawing from the case after Jossop had changed his instructions to him yesterday morning.
Jossop now has to find out if the Directorate of Legal Aid would instruct another lawyer to represent him in his trial.
Jossop is accused of stabbing two people, Isak Shikongo (32) and Johannes Matroos (41), to death at Karasburg on January 23 2009.
Shikongo was allegedly killed after he had tried to intervene in a fight between Jossop and another man.
Having stabbed Shikongo, Jossop then went to fetch a pair of sheep shears, with which he stabbed Matroos, also killing him, it is charged.
Jossop is charged with two counts of murder and further charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and malicious damage to property in connection with that incident.
He was granted bail in an amount of N$2 000 in May 2009. Having again spent time in custody after being arrested on another charge, which was later withdrawn, Jossop’s bail was reinstated in the High Court in late November last year.
On December 21 last year, Jossop allegedly returned to his old ways.
It is alleged that Jossop threatened one of the prosecution’s witnesses in his pending case, Richelin Fritz Snewe, and the latter’s sister, Indira Anthea Bloodstaan, at Keetmanshoop and remarked that Snewe was a problem to him in his case. Jossop then allegedly stabbed Snewe in his arm, stabbed Bloodstaan on her head, and also assaulted another person, Belinda Lisetha Guriras, who had tried to come to the assistance of Bloodstaan, by hitting her on the head with a bottle.
Jossop landed back in custody following that incident, with three counts of attempted murder and a charge of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, or attempting to do so, now added to the indictment he is facing in the High Court.
He is scheduled to return to court on Friday.
State advocate Erick Moyo is representing the prosecution.

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