Poaching murder suspects to be tried in High Court

THE trial of five men who are accused of having been part of a night-time poaching trip that resulted in the gunshot death of a professional hunter in the Outjo area in late 2006 will be taking place in the High Court, the Prosecutor General has decided.

Set to be in the dock with the five men who are alleged to have been present at the scene where hunter Daniel (‘Daantjie’) Jansen van Vuuren (43) was fatally shot along the road between Outjo and Kamanjab during the night of December 6 to 7 2006 is a sixth suspect, who is accused of having helped to hide potential evidence after the incident. This is according to a decision of the Prosecutor General that was communicated to the six accused men when they appeared before Magistrate Stanley Tembwe in the Outjo Magistrate’s Court on Thursday last week.Public Prosecutor Bernard Tjatjara told the court that the PG has decided to indict the six in the High Court on eight charges: counts of murder, stock theft, theft of a motor vehicle, alternatively use of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, another charge of theft, defeating the course of justice, altering, cancelling or mutilating a registered livestock brand, and illegal possession of a firearm and of ammunition.The six charged men, who have to make a first pre-trial appearance in the High Court in Windhoek on July 24, are Immanuel Ifako, Willem Peter, Gert Nuxabeb, Jafet Nuxabeb, a 17-year-old youth, and Johannes Heiki.According to the indictment in which the six are charged, it is alleged that Heiki had helped his co-accused hide two firearms, ammunition and the skin of a poached heifer after the shooting that claimed Van Vuuren’s life.It is alleged that during the night from December 6 to 7 2006, Ifako, Peter, the two Nuxabebs and the 17-year-old were on a poaching expedition on the road between Outjo and Kamanjab with Ifako’s bakkie when Ifako shot a heifer on a farm next to the road.The Nuxabebs and the 17-year-old allegedly helped pull the shot animal under the farm fence and loaded it onto the bakkie.Driving away from the scene of the alleged stock theft, the bakkie broke, it is claimed in the indictment.As fate would have it, Van Vuuren was travelling along the same road at that time.It is alleged that he stopped when the saw the men with the bakkie, and that an argument began between him and Ifako over what was loaded on the bakkie.In the course of the argument, it is charged, Ifako shot Van Vuuren.He was shot in his pelvis, and was thereafter dragged into the grass next to the road and left there, where he then died.When another car approached, Ifako drove off with Van Vuuren’s vehicle, returning later to pick up the other four men, it is claimed.When they abandoned Van Vuuren’s vehicle later, the men stole a rifle, ammunition and compact discs that belonged to Van Vuuren, it is also alleged.They then drove to a farm where Ifako lived, it is claimed.Heiki thereafter helped to hide some of the stolen items and the skin of the slaughtered, poached heifer, it is alleged.All of the charged men, except for Heiki, who is free on bail, are in custody pending their trial.This is according to a decision of the Prosecutor General that was communicated to the six accused men when they appeared before Magistrate Stanley Tembwe in the Outjo Magistrate’s Court on Thursday last week.Public Prosecutor Bernard Tjatjara told the court that the PG has decided to indict the six in the High Court on eight charges: counts of murder, stock theft, theft of a motor vehicle, alternatively use of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, another charge of theft, defeating the course of justice, altering, cancelling or mutilating a registered livestock brand, and illegal possession of a firearm and of ammunition.The six charged men, who have to make a first pre-trial appearance in the High Court in Windhoek on July 24, are Immanuel Ifako, Willem Peter, Gert Nuxabeb, Jafet Nuxabeb, a 17-year-old youth, and Johannes Heiki.According to the indictment in which the six are charged, it is alleged that Heiki had helped his co-accused hide two firearms, ammunition and the skin of a poached heifer after the shooting that claimed Van Vuuren’s life.It is alleged that during the night from December 6 to 7 2006, Ifako, Peter, the two Nuxabebs and the 17-year-old were on a poaching expedition on the road between Outjo and Kamanjab with Ifako’s bakkie when Ifako shot a heifer on a farm next to the road.The Nuxabebs and the 17-year-old allegedly helped pull the shot animal under the farm fence and loaded it onto the bakkie.Driving away from the scene of the alleged stock theft, the bakkie broke, it is claimed in the indictment.As fate would have it, Van Vuuren was travelling along the same road at that time.It is alleged that he stopped when the saw the men with the bakkie, and that an argument began between him and Ifako over what was loaded on the bakkie.In the course of the argument, it is charged, Ifako shot Van Vuuren.He was shot in his pelvis, and was thereafter dragged into the grass next to the road and left there, where he then died.When another car approached, Ifako drove off with Van Vuuren’s vehicle, returning later to pick up the other four men, it is claimed.When they abandoned Van Vuuren’s vehicle later, the men stole a rifle, ammunition and compact discs that belonged to Van Vuuren, it is also alleged.They then drove to a farm where Ifako lived, it is claimed.Heiki thereafter helped to hide some of the stolen items and the skin of the slaughtered, poached heifer, it is alleged.All of the charged men, except for Heiki, who is free on bail, are in custody pending their trial.