No bail for cellphone shooting suspect

THE Katutura State Hospital nurse accused of shooting dead three people and wounding another three in a shebeen in Windhoek in early February had his bail application rejected yesterday.

Triple murder suspect Jekonia Dimbulukweni Hamukoto (36), who also faces three charges of attempted murder, launched a bail application before Magistrate Tuyenikelao Haikango in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura on Friday last week. The bail application continued on Wednesday, with Detective Sergeant Linekela Hilundwa, who is the investigating officer working on the case, testifying before Magistrate Haikango to tell her why he was opposed to bail being granted to Hamukoto.The Magistrate gave her ruling on the application yesterday.She indicated that she had not been convinced by Hamukoto’s motivation why he wanted to be released on bail, and that she had found the State’s grounds for opposing bail to be reasonable.Hamukoto told the court on Friday that he was the father of four children who, together with the children of his late brother, are living with his 75-year-old mother, who is in ill health.Hamukoto said he was responsible for maintaining his mother and the children in her care, and with him locked up and unable to work, the children and his mother would be the ones suffering because of the situation he is in.That motivation was not good enough to warrant a release on bail, Magistrate Haikango indicated in her ruling.She commented that, considering that Hamukoto is facing three charges of murder and three counts of attempted murder, it would have been better if he had at least expressed remorse over the killing of the three people and sympathy for the three people who were injured in the incident.The shooting took place at Konjeni Bottle Store, a shebeen at the Katutura Single Quarters in Windhoek, early on the afternoon of February 2.Hamukoto admitted last week that he was responsible for firing the shots that struck six people, killing three, at the shebeen.He protested that he never had any intention to kill anyone, however.His explanation of the incident was that he found that his cellphone had disappeared when he returned from buying a drink at the bar counter.He was met with an unhelpful reaction when he asked the people in the vicinity whether they had seen the phone, and he then took out his pistol and fired a warning shot, he said.More shots went off after that, he related, and then someone approached him, put the missing cellphone down in front of him, and tried to flee to safety.That person was then also struck by a bullet, he said.The three people killed in the incident were Jonas Erastus (22), Festus Aron (25) and Boni Shuudeni (25).Two of the people who were injured are still in hospital, with one still in serious condition in an intensive care unit, Hilundwa told the court.He said the other injured man, who had been discharged from hospital in the meantime, told him that he was shot accidentally by Hamukoto, who is a friend of his.The State, represented by Public Prosecutor OJ Lino, opposed the bail application on the grounds that Hamukoto might interfere with the Police investigation of the matter, that he might abscond, or that he might come to harm – either at the hands of the victims of the shooting or of his own making – if he was to be released on bail.Hamukoto’s lawyer, Boris Isaacks, however argued yesterday that the crucial issue that had to be considered was whether Hamukoto would stand trial if he was released.Hamukoto had shown to the court that he would indeed stand trial, Isaacks argued.Hamukoto, who has resigned his job as a nurse since his arrest, the court heard this week, has to appear in court again on April 27.The bail application continued on Wednesday, with Detective Sergeant Linekela Hilundwa, who is the investigating officer working on the case, testifying before Magistrate Haikango to tell her why he was opposed to bail being granted to Hamukoto.The Magistrate gave her ruling on the application yesterday.She indicated that she had not been convinced by Hamukoto’s motivation why he wanted to be released on bail, and that she had found the State’s grounds for opposing bail to be reasonable. Hamukoto told the court on Friday that he was the father of four children who, together with the children of his late brother, are living with his 75-year-old mother, who is in ill health.Hamukoto said he was responsible for maintaining his mother and the children in her care, and with him locked up and unable to work, the children and his mother would be the ones suffering because of the situation he is in.That motivation was not good enough to warrant a release on bail, Magistrate Haikango indicated in her ruling.She commented that, considering that Hamukoto is facing three charges of murder and three counts of attempted murder, it would have been better if he had at least expressed remorse over the killing of the three people and sympathy for the three people who were injured in the incident.The shooting took place at Konjeni Bottle Store, a shebeen at the Katutura Single Quarters in Windhoek, early on the afternoon of February 2.Hamukoto admitted last week that he was responsible for firing the shots that struck six people, killing three, at the shebeen.He protested that he never had any intention to kill anyone, however.His explanation of the incident was that he found that his cellphone had disappeared when he returned from buying a drink at the bar counter.He was met with an unhelpful reaction when he asked the people in the vicinity whether they had seen the phone, and he then took out his pistol and fired a warning shot, he said.More shots went off after that, he related, and then someone approached him, put the missing cellphone down in front of him, and tried to flee to safety.That person was then also struck by a bullet, he said.The three people killed in the incident were Jonas Erastus (22), Festus Aron (25) and Boni Shuudeni (25).Two of the people who were injured are still in hospital, with one still in serious condition in an intensive care unit, Hilundwa told the court.He said the other injured man, who had been discharged from hospital in the meantime, told him that he was shot accidentally by Hamukoto, who is a friend of his.The State, represented by Public Prosecutor OJ Lino, opposed the bail application on the grounds that Hamukoto might interfere with the Police investigation of the matter, that he might abscond, or that he might come to harm – either at the hands of the victims of the shooting or of his own making – if he was to be released on bail.Hamukoto’s lawyer, Boris Isaacks, however argued yesterday that the crucial issue that had to be considered was whether Hamukoto would stand trial if he was released.Hamukoto had shown to the court that he would indeed stand trial, Isaacks argued.Hamukoto, who has resigned his job as a nurse since his arrest, the court heard this week, has to appear in court again on April 27.