Former teacher found guilty of murdering nurse

A CONFESSION, a self-incriminating initial plea in the Oshakati Magistrate’s Court, and testimony from an eyewitness yesterday proved to be the downfall of a former teacher on trial in the High Court.

Judge President Petrus Damaseb convicted Immanuel Kashala (34) of murdering his girlfriend, Mirjam Haindongo (25), at Oshakati on March 13 2003. The Judge President found that Kashala had a direct intention to kill Haindongo when he stabbed her 35 times with several knives – possibly four – in her room at the Oshakati State Hospital Nurses’ Home.He is set to sentence Kashala today.An eyewitness who was a colleague and neighbour of Haindongo told the court that she saw Kashala stab Haindongo in the neck with a knife.In addition, Kashala told a Magistrate on March 18 2003 that he had stabbed Haindongo during a quarrel, before he stabbed himself and lost consciousness.That statement amounted to a confession that he had the intention to kill Haindongo, the Judge President commented.It could be gathered from letters written by Kashala before the incident that he had planned to kill Haindongo and then commit suicide because he blamed her for erectile problems that he was experiencing, the Judge President also noted.In the face of the prosecution’s evidence implicating Kashala in the stabbing, the Judge President rejected Kashala’s claims in his own defence – that he had been attacked by an unknown assailant when he visited Haindongo’s room.State Advocate Innocentia Nyoni is leading the prosecution.Kashala is being represented by Legal Aid Directorate counsel Patience Daringo.The Judge President found that Kashala had a direct intention to kill Haindongo when he stabbed her 35 times with several knives – possibly four – in her room at the Oshakati State Hospital Nurses’ Home.He is set to sentence Kashala today.An eyewitness who was a colleague and neighbour of Haindongo told the court that she saw Kashala stab Haindongo in the neck with a knife.In addition, Kashala told a Magistrate on March 18 2003 that he had stabbed Haindongo during a quarrel, before he stabbed himself and lost consciousness.That statement amounted to a confession that he had the intention to kill Haindongo, the Judge President commented.It could be gathered from letters written by Kashala before the incident that he had planned to kill Haindongo and then commit suicide because he blamed her for erectile problems that he was experiencing, the Judge President also noted.In the face of the prosecution’s evidence implicating Kashala in the stabbing, the Judge President rejected Kashala’s claims in his own defence – that he had been attacked by an unknown assailant when he visited Haindongo’s room.State Advocate Innocentia Nyoni is leading the prosecution.Kashala is being represented by Legal Aid Directorate counsel Patience Daringo.