Axe murder ‘betrayal of worst kind’, judge says

An axe murder which claimed the life of a woman in her home at Khorixas in December 2022 was “a betrayal of the worst kind”, a judge remarked in the Windhoek High Court on Friday.

Judge Claudia Claasen made the comment during the sentencing of a Khorixas resident, Barnabas Nawaseb (32), who was convicted on a charge of murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, near the end of April.

Claasen sentenced Nawaseb to 28 years’ imprisonment for the killing of his long-time domestic partner, Metihisia Tanises (32), at Khorixas on 21 December 2022.

Tanises was found lying dead on her bed on the morning of 21 December 2022. She had been struck with an axe, with the blows directed at her head.

One of Tanises’ children, then aged four, was sleeping next to her on the bed when her body was found.

During Nawaseb’s trial, the court heard that Tanises had gone to the police at Khorixas the day before her death to lay a domestic violence complaint against Nawaseb and to ask the police to remove him from their house.

Nawaseb told the court that Tanises later asked him to return home. He also claimed there was a fight between him and Tanises and that he acted in self-defence when he hit her with the blunt side of an axe, which he said he did to make her loosen her grip on his testicles.

After he had struck Tanises, he left the house through a window because the door was locked with a padlock, and went to sleep at his cousin’s house, Nawaseb said.

Tanises was sitting on her bed, crying, when he left the house, he claimed.

In the judgement in which Nawaseb was convicted, Claasen found that Tanises was struck with the sharp side of the axe.

Considering the type of object that Nawaseb used to hit Tanises, the part of her body to which the blows he inflicted were directed, the type of injuries she sustained and Nawaseb’s behaviour after the incident, she could conclude he had an intention to kill Tanises, Claasen said in her judgement.

During a presentence hearing, Nawaseb said he and Tanises had been involved in a relationship for 13 years before her death.

Two children were born from their relationship.

Claasen said during the sentencing on Friday that she accepted Nawaseb has expressed sincere remorse about the murder.

“He lamented that he has placed his children in the same position that he was during his childhood, that is, growing up without a father,” she recounted.

Claasen reminded Nawaseb: “Murder remains one of the most serious crimes, because of the irrevocable consequences of the deed.”

Noting that Tanises had been Nawaseb’s domestic partner for 13 years, Claasen stated: “This court regards it as betrayal of the worst kind, which was committed in her home, which should have been a place of safety.”

Tanises “had no chance of surviving the brutal attack”, Claasen also remarked.

She added that the murder was committed in the presence of two minor children.

“These children were locked in the house with the body of their deceased mother. The children were found there the next morning. That adds another layer of callousness and disregard for [Nawaseb’s] role as a parent and protector of his family.”

Legal aid lawyer Petrus Grusshaber represented Nawaseb, who was held in custody since his arrest in December 2022.

State advocate Basson Lilungwe represented the prosecution.

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