Christmas Day killer sentenced to 27 years in prison

A ||Kharas region resident who fatally stabbed his pregnant wife at Aus on Christmas Day in 2014 has now been sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment.

The murder committed by Johannes Swartbooi (50) was senseless, considering that Swartbooi said in a plea statement he could not remember the reason for an argument that preceded the stabbing that claimed the life of his wife, judge Claudia Claasen said during Swartbooi’s sentencing in the Windhoek High Court on Friday.

Swartbooi was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to a charge of murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act.

He admitted that he stabbed his wife, Dorothea Riekert (33), six times with a knife in their home at Aus during the early hours of 25 December 2014.

Swartbooi informed the court in a plea statement that there was a verbal argument between him and Riekert before the stabbing.

He said he could not recall the cause of the argument, which led to a physical altercation during which he stabbed Riekert six times with a knife.

Riekert was transported to a hospital at Lüderitz after the stabbing. She died in the hospital on 27 December 2014.

Riekert was four months pregnant at the time of her death, it was established during a post-mortem examination.

Swartbooi told the court on Wednesday he was not aware that Riekert was pregnant. If he had known she was pregnant, the stabbing would not have happened, he said.

He also said he had five children with Riekert, to whom he had been married for seven years.

The youngest of the children was three years old at the time of Riekert’s death, while the oldest was 18.

Swartbooi said after being arrested a day after the stabbing he was held in custody until he was granted bail in July 2015.

He made pretrial appearances in the Windhoek High Court in 2021, but then failed to appear in court again as required. He was again arrested only in July this year, and has been held in custody since then, Swartbooi said.

It counted in Swartbooi’s favour that he pleaded guilty to the charge he faced, Claasen said during the sentencing.

However, she added, he did not express genuine remorse when he testified in mitigation of sentence.

The injuries inflicted on Riekert “demonstrate the brutal and vicious attack” on her, Claasen remarked.

The high incidence of the killing of women in Namibia is a cause for deep concern in society, she said.

The killing of women leaves behind countless victims, who are often children left with emotional and psychological trauma shadowing them through their lives, Claasen also said.

In Swartbooi’s case, aggravating circumstances outweighed mitigating factors, she said, before sentencing him to a prison term of 27 years.

Swartbooi was represented by defence lawyer Dawn Marondedze.

Deputy prosecutor general Dominic Lisulo represented the state.

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