35 years for murder and corpse-burning

A MURDER and its aftermath that were characterised by ‘senseless brutality’, in the words of High Court Judge Sylvester Mainga, left former child exile Elias Nhinda-Tjiriange with a 35-year jail term on Friday.

Judge Mainga sentenced Nhinda-Tjiriange (29) in the High Court in Windhoek to a 25-year prison term for murder, ten years’ imprisonment on a charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances, a five-year jail term on a count of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, and to two years in jail for illegal possession of a 9mm pistol and ammunition for the gun.Five years of the sentence on the robbery charge were ordered to run concurrently with the sentence on the murder charge, while the two-year jail term for Nhinda-Tjiriange’s possession of the gun and ammunition that were used in the murder of his cousin, teacher Villi Heikky Taukondjelwa Asino (24), on December 20 2004 were ordered to be served concurrently with the sentence on the robbery charge.’His version why he killed his cousin reads like a fantasy to me,’ Judge Mainga commented during the sentencing.Nhinda-Tjiriange admitted guilt on all charges except the count of robbery when his trial started on August 5 last year. According to him, he shot Asino in the head when he lost his temper after Asino refused to return N$25 000 that Nhinda-Tjiriange had paid him for a vehicle that Nhinda-Tjiriange was buying from him.The incident took place in Windhoek’s Okahandja Park area.Having killed Asino, Nhinda-Tjiriange loaded Asino’s body into the boot of Asino’s car and left the scene with the car. The body remained in the boot until the evening of that day, when Nhinda-Tjiriange again drove towards the Okahandja Park area, removed the body from the boot, dragged it into a dry riverbed and finally set it on fire after dousing it with petrol and placing a tyre on it.A photo showing Asino’s burnt remains at the scene ‘tells of a cruel person who killed and violated the body thereafter’, Judge Mainga commented on Friday.In a report on Nhinda-Tjiriange’s psychological profile that was provided to Judge Mainga last week, the court was informed that Nhinda-Tjiriange has an above average level of intelligence. The court was also requested last week to give Nhinda-Tjiriange a second chance by not sentencing him to a jail term that would be so long that he would not have a chance to rebuild his life after he has served his sentence.Nhinda-Tjiriange’s positive features however are weakened ‘by the senseless brutality which characterised the murder and his intention to conceal his involvement in the commission of the crime’, Judge Mainga remarked during the sentencing.In the psychologist’s report on Nhinda-Tjiriange, it was also stated that he had led ‘a fast-paced, adventurous and dangerous lifestyle which was driven by adrenalin rather than common sense’.Referring to this, Judge Mainga commented: ‘Given the facts that led to his anger it is doubtful whether he has abandoned his adventurous and dangerous lifestyle. He killed his own cousin for the flimsiest of reasons and can do so again.’Nhinda-Tjiriange told the court during his trial that he was born in Lusaka in Zambia, and that he had spent much of his life in the United Kingdom. According to the psychologist’s report on him, he lived with his mother in a refugee camp under very difficult conditions until he went to live with his father in Luanda when he was five years old. He returned to Namibia with his father in 1989, but later again left the country to live with his mother in the UK.Nhinda-Tjiriange has three children, aged 8, 10 and 13, the court was also told before the sentencing. ‘Under the circumstances, one can only sympathize with the plight of the children who will have to grow up without the presence of their father,’ Judge Mainga said during the sentencing.Defence lawyer Bradley Basson represented Nhinda-Tjiriange during the trial. Belinda Wantenaar prosecuted.