Decades in prison for girlfriend killer

AFTER spending more than three-and-a-half years in jail, murder convict Richard Hange could have another three-decade stay in the same environment lying ahead.

Hange was sentenced to 32 years’ imprisonment at the end of his trial in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.

Judge Christie Liebenberg told him during his sentencing that his personal interests simply did not measure up to the interests of society and the gravity of the offence of which he was convicted.

Hange (27) denied guilt throughout his trial and tried to portray himself as a victim of circumstances, and in the process did not show any genuine remorse, the judge said. He was not persuaded that Hange deserved mercy and that a partly suspended sentence would be appropriate in his case, as defence lawyer Hipura Ujaha argued earlier this week, Judge Liebenberg said. As such, a lengthy custodial sentence was inevitable, he stated.

Hange was found guilty of the murder his girlfriend, Lisa Kandovazu (21), who was killed in her mother’s house in the Havana area of Katutura on 27 September 2011. Judge Liebenberg convicted him on a charge of murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, on Friday last week.

The court heard during the trial that Hange and Kandovazu had been involved in a relationship, from which one child was born, for about three years. Kandovazu also had a second child with another man.

Kandovazu’s brother testified during the trial that on the morning of the day that she was killed he heard her telling Hange that she no longer wanted to have a relationship with him and wanted him to leave their house. She was found dead in a bedroom in her mother’s house later that day.

Four witnesses told the court that they saw Hange opening the locked door of the bedroom where Kandovazu was later found dead and emerging from the room with a knife in his hand. The witnesses also testified that they saw Hange slashing at his own neck with the knife, before he collapsed in the house.

The evidence that Hange inflicted cuts to his own neck pointed in the direction of him having realised his guilt and then trying to end his own life, Judge Liebenberg remarked in his judgment.

He noted in his verdict that the medical evidence before him showed Kandovazu had died as a result of a cut wound to her neck, in which a major artery had been severed. Her skull had also been fractured as a result of a blow to the side of her head. Further injuries to her neck appeared to have been caused by the fingernails of someone who was manually strangling her.

The medical evidence led to an inference that Hange had an intention to kill Kandovazu when he assaulted her, the judge reasoned.

Jealousy and self-righteousness were uppermost in Hange’s mind when he committed a senseless murder as if he had a right to end someone’s life, Judge Liebenberg commented during the sentencing yesterday.

Hange’s unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide by cutting his own throat evoked little sympathy with the court, because none of the events that were the subject matter of his trial would have happened if he behaved like a civilised person in the first place, the judge said.

He stated: “The termination of love relationships and even marriages, unfortunately and sadly so, is part of daily life and how difficult it might be – for some more than for others – the solution lies not in the taking of a life or revenge, in whatever way.”

By killing Kandovazu, Hange has failed not only his child, whose mother he murdered, but society as well, the judge said.

State advocate Jack Eixab conducted the prosecution.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.