Killer of nursery owner gets 20-year jail term

A YOUNG man convicted of murdering a nursery owner in the Otavi area was sentenced in the Otjiwarongo Regional Court to an effective jail term of 21 years last week.

Magistrate Christie Liebenberg sentenced Severin Iita Alubertus (21) to twenty years’ imprisonment on a charge of murder, as well as a further one-year jail term for theft. He had found Alubertus guilty of murdering nursery owner Winnie Locher (63) at a smallholding close to Otavi on April 1 last year.Alubertus was also convicted of stealing items worth some N$590 – consisting of a radio/cassette player, clothing and cash – from Locher on the same day.Locher, who ran “Winnie’s Nursery” at the plot close to Otavi, was found murdered in a small shop at the plot on April 1 last year.She had been stabbed to death.Alubertus was arrested later that same day, after the Police had followed footprints leading from the crime scene.While tracking the footprints, the clothing and radio/tape player were found where they had evidently been abandoned by the thief.An eyewitness later identified Alubertus as the person seen running away from the murder scene.A fingerprint that matched one of his was also found on an item inside Locher’s house.Alubertus had previously been a part-time employee at the plot.Public Prosecutor Muriel van Zyl represented the State at Alubertus’s trial.Alubertus was represented by Jefta Tjitemisa, on instructions from the Directorate of Legal Aid.He had found Alubertus guilty of murdering nursery owner Winnie Locher (63) at a smallholding close to Otavi on April 1 last year.Alubertus was also convicted of stealing items worth some N$590 – consisting of a radio/cassette player, clothing and cash – from Locher on the same day.Locher, who ran “Winnie’s Nursery” at the plot close to Otavi, was found murdered in a small shop at the plot on April 1 last year.She had been stabbed to death.Alubertus was arrested later that same day, after the Police had followed footprints leading from the crime scene.While tracking the footprints, the clothing and radio/tape player were found where they had evidently been abandoned by the thief.An eyewitness later identified Alubertus as the person seen running away from the murder scene.A fingerprint that matched one of his was also found on an item inside Locher’s house.Alubertus had previously been a part-time employee at the plot.Public Prosecutor Muriel van Zyl represented the State at Alubertus’s trial.Alubertus was represented by Jefta Tjitemisa, on instructions from the Directorate of Legal Aid.