Outjo killer receives 28-year prison term

Khamuxas, who was murdered at the age of 19, was fatally stabbed while trying to flee from her killer, who pursued her like a predator following its prey.The killer was her boyfriend, Robert Useb (24), and he did not show mercy to his victim.These remarks were made by judge Naomi Shivute in the Windhoek High Court when she sentenced Useb to a prison term of 28 years yesterday.Shivute said although Useb was a youthful offender with no previous criminal convictions, “he committed a despicable act”.She reminded Useb that society views domestic violence in a serious light and demands that a sentence should fit the crime, before she informed him that he was sentenced to 28 years' imprisonment.Khamuxas was killed at Outjo on 29 March 2019, when she was stabbed five times with a knife.One of the injuries she received was a fatal stab wound to her chest.Useb denied guilt during his trial, but Shivute convicted him on a charge of murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, eight weeks ago.The stabbing took place outside a bar at Outjo and was seen by eyewitnesses. Four eyewitnesses to the incident testified during Useb's trial.Witnesses told the judge that Useb and Khamuxas had been at the bar and that Useb reacted jealously when she mentioned the name of another man.They went out of the bar to have a conversation, and a while later Khamuxas was seen running back to the bar, with Useb following her, before he attacked her and stabbed her repeatedly.In her judgement, delivered near the end of February, Shivute noted that five witnesses had seen Useb with a knife in his possession at the bar, while four eyewitnesses testified about the stabbing they said they had seen.The judge rejected Useb's claim that he was not responsible for the stabbing, and convicted him of murder committed with a direct intention to kill.Khamuxas was the mother of an eight-month-old daughter at the time of her death, the court was informed during a pre-sentence hearing.It is considered as an aggravating fact that her child will have to grow up without a mother and has been deprived of her motherly love and care, Shivute remarked.Useb has been held in custody for the past three years.Legal Aid lawyer Meriam Kandoni represented Useb during his trial.State advocate Ian Malumani represented the prosecution.

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