Decapitation murder verdict set for today

THE High Court’s judgement in the trial of Joseph Ngoya – an Eenhana district resident who is accused of having murdered and decapitated a neighbour last year – is now scheduled to be given today.

Judge President Petrus Damaseb, who is presiding over Ngoya’s trial, had been set to deliver his verdict in the trial yesterday, but instead postponed it for another day until today. Ngoya (34) denied guilt on a charge of murder when his trial started in the High Court at Oshakati last month.He is accused of having killed a neighbour, Elias Kahandja Shoombe, at the village of Ongumi in the Eenhana district on September 3 last year.The prosecution is charging that Ngoya killed Shoombe (57) by stabbing him in the chest with a traditional knife and then cutting off his head while Shoombe was still alive.Ngoya thereafter walked with the head to a nearby cuca shop, where he showed it to people, including the murdered man’s wife, it is alleged.Ngoya claimed that he had acted in self-defence when Shoombe attacked him first with a panga.He also claimed that he could not remember anything about the alleged act of cutting off Shoombe’s head, and his defence lawyer has argued that he at that stage suffered from a temporary mental condition in which he could not be held accountable for his actions.During the trial, the court heard testimony in which it was claimed that Ngoya had previously accused Shoombe of having an affair with his wife, and that he had made threats that Shoombe would die earlier on the day of the killing.Ngoya (34) denied guilt on a charge of murder when his trial started in the High Court at Oshakati last month.He is accused of having killed a neighbour, Elias Kahandja Shoombe, at the village of Ongumi in the Eenhana district on September 3 last year.The prosecution is charging that Ngoya killed Shoombe (57) by stabbing him in the chest with a traditional knife and then cutting off his head while Shoombe was still alive.Ngoya thereafter walked with the head to a nearby cuca shop, where he showed it to people, including the murdered man’s wife, it is alleged.Ngoya claimed that he had acted in self-defence when Shoombe attacked him first with a panga.He also claimed that he could not remember anything about the alleged act of cutting off Shoombe’s head, and his defence lawyer has argued that he at that stage suffered from a temporary mental condition in which he could not be held accountable for his actions.During the trial, the court heard testimony in which it was claimed that Ngoya had previously accused Shoombe of having an affair with his wife, and that he had made threats that Shoombe would die earlier on the day of the killing.