30 years for factory killer

A FORMER Luederitz fish processing plant employee who stabbed two colleagues – one with deadly results – at work in mid-2004 was sentenced to a 30-year jail term yesterday.

“The attack on the deceased was not only cowardly, but barbaric,” Acting Judge Christie Liebenberg told Andreas Negongo David, a 35-year-old father of four children, during his sentencing on counts of murder and attempted murder. David was sentenced in the High Court in Windhoek 10 days after Acting Judge Liebenberg had convicted him on charges that he had murdered a colleague, Geralda Eugenia Appolus (29), and had attempted to murder another co-worker, Wilson Shityeni, at Luederitz on June 24 2004.The stabbings, which took place at the town’s Novanam fish processing plant, were sparked when disciplinary procedures were set in motion against David for refusing to carry out instructions that he had received from an acting supervisor at the factory.A disciplinary statement setting out David’s alleged transgression was signed by Appolus as a witness, Acting Judge Liebenberg heard during David’s trial.After this statement had been handed to David when he was informed that he was being suspended from his job at the factory, it was against Appolus that he directed the seething rage that he claimed to experience at that time.David claimed that he became angry after Appolus had shoved him three times against his chest.He claimed that he then picked up a knife with which he went on to stab Appolus.Acting Judge Liebenberg however rejected this version, since there also was evidence that David had the knife in possession before going up to Appolus where she was on duty in the processing plant.The court heard that when David approached her with the knife, Appolus tried to flee from him, but she fell to the floor while trying to get away from him.When she then tried to crawl away on her hands and knees, David attacked her from behind, stabbing her in the back.Acting Judge Liebenberg condemned the way that David attacked Appolus, remarking that he found it repulsive that a defenceless woman had been surprised from the back, especially by a fellow employee.”Undoubtedly, no person deserves such inhuman treatment,” he commented.Shityeni intervened to stop David from stabbing Appolus.Acting Judge Liebenberg remarked that David then displayed the same callousness he had exhibited earlier by stabbing Shityeni, too, in the back after Shityeni had turned around.After the stabbings, David left the factory and walked home.On the way, he threw away the butcher’s knife – its blade measured some 15 centimetres in length – with which the stabbings had been carried out.Once he had arrived home, he got into bed, as if nothing had happened, not showing any interest in the fate of his victims, Acting Judge Liebenberg further recounted the evidence he had heard.David clearly showed no respect for the right to life, which is enshrined in Namibia’s Constitution, Acting Judge Liebenberg said.He added that with the sentence the court was imposing, a message should be sent out that the punishment for the sort of violent crimes that continue to escalate in Namibia would become progressively heavier, until the tide is turned and the battle against these crimes is won.Acting Judge Liebenberg sentenced David to 30 years’ imprisonment on the murder charge and to a ten-year jail term, which he ordered should be served concurrently with the 30-year sentence, on the attempted murder charge.David was represented by defence counsel Winnie Christians, on instructions from the Legal Aid Directorate.State advocate Orben Sibeya prosecuted.David was sentenced in the High Court in Windhoek 10 days after Acting Judge Liebenberg had convicted him on charges that he had murdered a colleague, Geralda Eugenia Appolus (29), and had attempted to murder another co-worker, Wilson Shityeni, at Luederitz on June 24 2004.The stabbings, which took place at the town’s Novanam fish processing plant, were sparked when disciplinary procedures were set in motion against David for refusing to carry out instructions that he had received from an acting supervisor at the factory.A disciplinary statement setting out David’s alleged transgression was signed by Appolus as a witness, Acting Judge Liebenberg heard during David’s trial.After this statement had been handed to David when he was informed that he was being suspended from his job at the factory, it was against Appolus that he directed the seething rage that he claimed to experience at that time.David claimed that he became angry after Appolus had shoved him three times against his chest. He claimed that he then picked up a knife with which he went on to stab Appolus.Acting Judge Liebenberg however rejected this version, since there also was evidence that David had the knife in possession before going up to Appolus where she was on duty in the processing plant.The court heard that when David approached her with the knife, Appolus tried to flee from him, but she fell to the floor while trying to get away from him.When she then tried to crawl away on her hands and knees, David attacked her from behind, stabbing her in the back.Acting Judge Liebenberg condemned the way that David attacked Appolus, remarking that he found it repulsive that a defenceless woman had been surprised from the back, especially by a fellow employee.”Undoubtedly, no person deserves such inhuman treatment,” he commented.Shityeni intervened to stop David from stabbing Appolus.Acting Judge Liebenberg remarked that David then displayed the same callousness he had exhibited earlier by stabbing Shityeni, too, in the back after Shityeni had turned around.After the stabbings, David left the factory and walked home.On the way, he threw away the butcher’s knife – its blade measured some 15 centimetres in length – with which the stabbings had been carried out.Once he had arrived home, he got into bed, as if nothing had happened, not showing any interest in the fate of his victims, Acting Judge Liebenberg further recounted the evidence he had heard.David clearly showed no respect for the right to life, which is enshrined in Namibia’s Constitution, Acting Judge Liebenberg said.He added that with the sentence the court was imposing, a message should be sent out that the punishment for the sort of violent crimes that continue to escalate in Namibia would become progressively heavier, until the tide is turned and the battle against these crimes is won.Acting Judge Liebenberg sentenced David to 30 years’ imprisonment on the murder charge and to a ten-year jail term, which he ordered should be served concurrently with the 30-year sentence, on the attempted murder charge.David was represented by defence counsel Winnie Christians, on instructions from the Legal Aid Directorate.State advocate Orben Sibeya prosecuted.