A young man accused of murdering two people in separate knife stabbings at Gobabis and also raping a child in a previous incident denied guilt on 14 criminal charges in the High Court yesterday.
John Mutirua (23) pleaded not guilty to all the charges he is facing at the start of his trial before acting judge Makapa Simasiku in the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility.
The charges include two counts of murder, five charges of rape and two counts of attempted murder.
The state is alleging that Mutirua abducted or kidnapped a girl (9) and also kidnapped two boys, aged 10 and eight, at Gobabis on 23 September 2018.
It is also alleged that Mutirua raped the girl four times and caused one of the boys to commit a sexual act with her, before fleeing the scene where he had tied up the children.
Some two years after that incident, the state is alleging, Mutirua murdered Meno Tjizera (19) in the Epako area of Gobabis during the night of 30 to 31 October 2020, and tried to kill another man after that incident.
Tjizera died after he had been stabbed in the chest at a wedding celebration where he was a guest.
The second murder charge Mutirua is facing originates from an incident at Gobabis on 16 July 2023.
The state is claiming Mutirua robbed a man, Albertus Maasdorp (37), of N$1 300 in the Epako area of Gobabis.
After that incident, Maasdorp’s girlfriend went to Mutirua’s residence, where she took bedding to keep as security until Mutirua had repaid the money allegedly stolen from Maasdorp.
Having heard of this event, Mutirua allegedly went to look for Maasdorp and vowed to stab him to death.
After finding Maasdorp in a bar, Mutirua stabbed him in the chest, fled the scene and threw away the knife used in the stabbing, the state is alleging.
Before that, he had also stabbed another man in the shoulder, the state is claiming.
Defence lawyer Ileni Velikoshi informed the judge yesterday that Mutirua is not denying he stabbed Maasdorp and that the stabbing caused Maasdorp’s death.
According to Mutirua, he was trying to retrieve blankets from Maasdorp when Maasdorp charged at him and put his hands in his pockets as if he was about to take out a weapon, Velikoshi said.
He added: “Out of fear that the deceased was going to stab him, he acted hurriedly, and in a preventative act he stabbed the deceased. He had no intention to kill the deceased.”
Regarding the death of Tjizera at the end of October 2020, Mutirua is denying that he stabbed Tjizera or caused his death, Velikoshi said.
Mutirua is also denying that he kidnapped or abducted children in September 2018 and raped one of the children, Velikoshi said.
The trial is continuing. Mutirua is being held in custody.
Deputy prosecutor general Maria Shilongo is representing the state.
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