Call for help preceded murder rampage

MINUTES before he went on a murderous shooting rampage, the head of Keetmanshoop Prison, Oscar Manze (39) tried to reach out for counselling.

He talked to Detective Sergeant Helena Ashikoto, the Woman and Child Protection Unit Commander at Keetmanshoop, about problems at home. Ashikoto told him she would meet with him at any time.He left and headed home but apparently it was too late to change the course of events.Manze checked a service pistol from the prison.He called his best friend, Jason Tjipo (36), and when the two met, Manze called him into his house next to the prison.They reportedly argued over money.Tjipo refused to enter Manze’s house and Manze shot him in the back of the head.According to NamPol’s Deputy Commissioner in the Karas Region, Josephat Abel, the shooting tragedy happened at around six o’clock on Monday evening.Abel said Manze’s wife, Lehestie (26), tried to escape but was shot down in the corridor of the house.Manze shot her in the head.He then entered a bedroom and killed his two-year-old daughter, Serano.Finally, he turned the gun on himself in the same bedroom and shot himself in the head.Abel said Police were still struggling to find a motive for the bloody shootings that have sent shock waves through the town of Keetmanshoop.However, he said that it appears that domestic problems between Manze and his wife, who were married in 2004, might have sparked the killings.Ashikoto told The Namibian that Manze met her at the Magistrate’s Court at around 17h45 on Monday and told her he was looking for her two weeks ago.He asked her when he could see her.”I told him he could come and see me anytime at my office or house,” Ashikoto said.He told her it would be suitable at her house.He had gone to the Woman and Child Protection office two weeks ago and asked for her, but she was out of town.Abel believes that Manze had planned to commit the cold-blooded murders, as Manze booked out the service pistol under false pretences, claiming he wanted to look for a person who had stolen a DVD player from his house.Abel expressed shock over the killings, imploring Police officers as well as prison officials in the Karas Region to seek counselling if they have domestic problems.Lehestie Manze was the personal secretary at Karas Governor Dawid Boois’s private office.She had worked there for two and a half years.”The staff who worked with her, including me, mourn her death,” said Boois.He described her as a friendly and loving person.Ashikoto told him she would meet with him at any time.He left and headed home but apparently it was too late to change the course of events.Manze checked a service pistol from the prison.He called his best friend, Jason Tjipo (36), and when the two met, Manze called him into his house next to the prison.They reportedly argued over money.Tjipo refused to enter Manze’s house and Manze shot him in the back of the head.According to NamPol’s Deputy Commissioner in the Karas Region, Josephat Abel, the shooting tragedy happened at around six o’clock on Monday evening.Abel said Manze’s wife, Lehestie (26), tried to escape but was shot down in the corridor of the house.Manze shot her in the head.He then entered a bedroom and killed his two-year-old daughter, Serano. Finally, he turned the gun on himself in the same bedroom and shot himself in the head.Abel said Police were still struggling to find a motive for the bloody shootings that have sent shock waves through the town of Keetmanshoop.However, he said that it appears that domestic problems between Manze and his wife, who were married in 2004, might have sparked the killings.Ashikoto told The Namibian that Manze met her at the Magistrate’s Court at around 17h45 on Monday and told her he was looking for her two weeks ago.He asked her when he could see her.”I told him he could come and see me anytime at my office or house,” Ashikoto said.He told her it would be suitable at her house.He had gone to the Woman and Child Protection office two weeks ago and asked for her, but she was out of town.Abel believes that Manze had planned to commit the cold-blooded murders, as Manze booked out the service pistol under false pretences, claiming he wanted to look for a person who had stolen a DVD player from his house.Abel expressed shock over the killings, imploring Police officers as well as prison officials in the Karas Region to seek counselling if they have domestic problems.Lehestie Manze was the personal secretary at Karas Governor Dawid Boois’s private office.She had worked there for two and a half years.”The staff who worked with her, including me, mourn her death,” said Boois.He described her as a friendly and loving person.