Schiefer launches bail application

AFTER four months in custody following the murder of his parents on January 18 this year, 19-year-old Windhoek resident Romeo Schiefer yesterday started a formal bid for bail in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura.

Schiefer faces an uphill battle in the proceedings, which continue today, as the State yesterday unveiled evidence which it said proved that it would not be in the public interest to release Schiefer from custody before the case was finalised. The most damning of the evidence given yesterday was a detailed statement Schiefer had made to the Police on January 19, a day after the discovery of his parents’ bodies at the family’s home in Khomasdal.In it, Romeo Schiefer, the youngest of Frans and Fransiena Schiefer’s three children, admits in graphic detail that he killed both his parents in a rage over verbal abuse his mother had hurled at him on the day.Schiefer however maintained yesterday that the Police had forced him to make this statement after hours of endless questioning.”I was tired.They said it must be either me or my brother.I finally just did what I was told.They kept forcing me,” he said.In the statement he signed, Schiefer described how, after making plans to go out that night with a friend, he had asked his mother for money when she continued an earlier verbal assault on him over his studies.This, prosecutor Antonia Verhoef read from the statement, prompted him to grab a knife and stab his mother.He then apparently went into his parents’ bedroom, where he took his father’s pistol from a safe, grabbed a pillow to muffle the gunshot, and shot his father once in the head.The statement goes as far as explaining that a tear from Schiefer’s eyes landed on his father, causing the older man to turn before he was fatally shot.At one point, Schiefer stated, his mother fled into the room where his father lay, and he shot her three or four times through the door.After this, he apparently sent away his friend with whom he was to go out that night before re-entering the house and completing the killing of his mother.Verhoef also pointed to bloodstains found on a pair of shorts belonging to Schiefer that had been confiscated from the scene.Schiefer explained that he had been helping his mother work with meat that day, adding that this could be a possible reason for the blood.Verhoef stated that the results of forensic tests done on these trousers were still pending.Investigating officers on the night also took photographs of bloody footprints at the crime scene, and a pair of sneakers belonging to Schiefer had been confiscated to see if it matched these.Results of tests done on these, Verhoef said, established that these shoes could possibly be the source of the bloody footprints.Schiefer’s defence lawyer Ivo Dos Santos objected to the State’s refusal to grant bail, saying that they neither had prima facie evidence against his client, nor did Schiefer prove a liability to public interest.During cross-examination of the investigating officer in the case, Dos Santos noted that cases had occurred where written statements taken from suspects could not be submitted as evidence.He also said that forensics had not conclusively identified Schiefer’s sneakers as the source of the bloody footprints.He charged that the Police had been negligent in their investigation, allowing members of the media, more specifically a Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) cameraman, to take footage of the crime scene while evidence was being collected.This, he said, meant that the scene had been compromised.The most damning of the evidence given yesterday was a detailed statement Schiefer had made to the Police on January 19, a day after the discovery of his parents’ bodies at the family’s home in Khomasdal.In it, Romeo Schiefer, the youngest of Frans and Fransiena Schiefer’s three children, admits in graphic detail that he killed both his parents in a rage over verbal abuse his mother had hurled at him on the day.Schiefer however maintained yesterday that the Police had forced him to make this statement after hours of endless questioning.”I was tired.They said it must be either me or my brother.I finally just did what I was told.They kept forcing me,” he said.In the statement he signed, Schiefer described how, after making plans to go out that night with a friend, he had asked his mother for money when she continued an earlier verbal assault on him over his studies. This, prosecutor Antonia Verhoef read from the statement, prompted him to grab a knife and stab his mother.He then apparently went into his parents’ bedroom, where he took his father’s pistol from a safe, grabbed a pillow to muffle the gunshot, and shot his father once in the head.The statement goes as far as explaining that a tear from Schiefer’s eyes landed on his father, causing the older man to turn before he was fatally shot. At one point, Schiefer stated, his mother fled into the room where his father lay, and he shot her three or four times through the door.After this, he apparently sent away his friend with whom he was to go out that night before re-entering the house and completing the killing of his mother.Verhoef also pointed to bloodstains found on a pair of shorts belonging to Schiefer that had been confiscated from the scene.Schiefer explained that he had been helping his mother work with meat that day, adding that this could be a possible reason for the blood.Verhoef stated that the results of forensic tests done on these trousers were still pending.Investigating officers on the night also took photographs of bloody footprints at the crime scene, and a pair of sneakers belonging to Schiefer had been confiscated to see if it matched these.Results of tests done on these, Verhoef said, established that these shoes could possibly be the source of the bloody footprints.Schiefer’s defence lawyer Ivo Dos Santos objected to the State’s refusal to grant bail, saying that they neither had prima facie evidence against his client, nor did Schiefer prove a liability to public interest.During cross-examination of the investigating officer in the case, Dos Santos noted that cases had occurred where written statements taken from suspects could not be submitted as evidence.He also said that forensics had not conclusively identified Schiefer’s sneakers as the source of the bloody footprints.He charged that the Police had been negligent in their investigation, allowing members of the media, more specifically a Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) cameraman, to take footage of the crime scene while evidence was being collected.This, he said, meant that the scene had been compromised.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.

The Namibian uses AI tools to assist with improved quality, accuracy and efficiency, while maintaining editorial oversight and journalistic integrity.