Hospital murder: Guilty plea

THE suspect in Sunday’s murder of a woman at the Nurses’ Home in Windhoek pleaded guilty during his first court appearance yesterday.
David Kaapanda Shiimi was charged with the murder of his girlfriend, Hileni Enkono (24), on Sunday morning at the Windhoek Central Hospital’s Nurses’ Home.

Shiimi, who shed tears in the packed courtroom of the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court, said he killed Enkono during an argument in which he got shocking news. ‘I hit her with a hammer,’ he said when asked how he had killed Enkono. Shiimi told the court that he had been in a relationship with Enkono for several years. A child was born during this time and only now that the child could walk, did Enkono inform him that it was not his child, he said.She also ordered him to leave her flat and told him that she was ending their relationship, according to Shiimi.He said he then asked her to give him some time to remove his belongings from the flat. It was then that the fight started, Shiimi said.He said he hit Enkono once on the head and she was still breathing when he left the room. He said it was the first time he had ever hit her and that he did not mean to kill her.However, he admitted that he put a pillow on her face after hitting her with the hammer.Shiimi was arrested shortly after the murder.Enkono, a radiographer at the Central State Hospital, was found dead in her bedroom after Shiimi had dropped her son off at the flat of Enkono’s friend on the same floor. He allegedly also gave Enkono’s room keys to the friend before leaving the building at about 07h00. Shiimi’s next court appearance will be on January 11 next year. He was ordered to remain in custody.