Axe killer sent to jail for 28 years

A MAN who killed his girlfriend with an axe at Otjiwarongo in February 2015 committed a senseless and callous murder, a judge commented in the Windhoek High Court yesterday before sentencing him to 28 years’ imprisonment.

The late Christine Ganses (28) was unarmed and posed no danger to her partner, Israel Kapepu, before he attacked her with an axe, judge Naomi Shivute remarked during Kapepu’s sentencing.

“It can hardly be disputed [Ganses] died a cruel and painful death at the hands of her so-called lover,” judge Shivute said.

She recounted that Kapepu (44) struck Ganses three times against her head with the blunt side of an axe, after they had been involved in a heated argument that erupted when she told Kapepu she was planning to go out to continue drinking.

By then, they had already been drinking for almost two days in a row, Kapepu stated in a plea explanation that was given to the court.

Kapepu admitted guilt on a charge of murder three weeks ago. He admitted that he murdered Ganses at their home at Otjiwarongo on 28 February 2015, but also stated that he did not directly intend to cause her death. However, he knew his assault on Ganses could result in her death, considering the weapon that he wielded and the way he used it, Kapepu stated in his plea explanation.

Kapepu also informed the court that Ganses insulted him during the quarrel they had about her wish to go out drinking. Feeling hurt and angry, he then decided he was going to discipline her with a sjambok, but when he could not find the sjambok in their house, he took an axe instead and attacked Ganses with it, he stated.

He hit her with the blunt side of the axe, inflicting three blows to her head, Kapepu recounted. The blows were fatal, and Ganses died where she fell.

A sister of Ganses told the court after Kapepu admitted guilt that he and Ganses appeared to have had a good relationship, with no indications of problems between the two of them before he murdered her.

Ganses was the mother of three children, aged 15, 14 and three, the court was also told. Kapepu, who had been involved in a relationship with Ganses for about four years, was the father of her youngest child.

Although he admitted guilt and was a first-time offender, the aggravating factors in Kapepu’s case outweighed mitigating ones, judge Shivute said during the sentencing. She also commented that, since Kapepu did not testify in person, the court was not able to determine the genuineness of his claim that he had remorse over the murder he committed.

Kapepu is the second axe killer to be sentenced in the Windhoek High Court so far this year.

In March, a former police constable, Willem Saul (40), was sentenced to a 32-year prison term, after he admitted that he murdered his wife with an axe at Gobabis in September 2015. Saul said he committed the murder because he suspected his wife, Ingenesia Saul (37), was involved in a romantic relationship with another man.

Defence lawyer Mese Tjituri represented Kapepu during his trial. State advocate Marthino Olivier prosecuted.

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