Schoolgirl murder suspect loses second bid for bail

A YOUNG man accused of murdering his girlfriend, Windhoek schoolgirl Ipula Akwenye (17), failed on Thursday to win bail at his second attempt.

The bail application of the suspect, now 19 years old, was turned down by Magistrate Leah Shaanika in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court at Katutura when she decided there were no new facts warranting bail. Akwenye’s boyfriend was arrested and charged with murdering and raping her on January 31 last year, two days after her body was found in a patch of veld in Windhoek.She appeared to have been bludgeoned to death with a pickaxe handle and three large blood-spattered rocks that were found nearby.Then aged 17, Akwenye’s boyfriend was still a Grade 12 student at Delta Secondary School, Windhoek, where Akwenye was in Grade 10.His last two birthdays – the young man turned 19 just last weekend – have been spent in custody.In court last Tuesday for the hearing of his second bail application, the suspect was neatly dressed, but his physical condition since a first, failed bid for bail, in April last year, appeared to have deteriorated.He looked gaunt, with bags under his eyes.His defence lawyer, Jan Wessels, argued that investigation of the case – one of Namibia’s most high-profile recent murder cases – had, in effect, been stalled for six months because of a long wait for test results from Namibia’s national forensics laboratory.In that time, his young client had had to stay in custody with no idea of how long he had to wait for his trial to start.Once in the witness stand, he seemed to come across as intelligent and well spoken, going head to head with Public Prosecutor Lindrowski Tibinyane who at times subjected him to aggressive cross-examination.As with his first bail bid, the suspect again refused to answer questions about the charges against him.Last July he pleaded not guilty to counts of murder and rape.Since then, his case has been postponed repeatedly pending direction from the Prosecutor General on the proposed course of the prosecution.During last week’s hearing, though, it emerged that the PG and the Police were first awaiting lab test results requested in February last year.The tests are understood to be of material found on Akwenye’s underwear, and of blood found on the rocks and pickaxe handle – the suspected murder weapons – as well as of blood spots claimed to have been found on the suspect’s shoes.The young man must spend another month in custody before he returns to court – on March 24.Akwenye’s boyfriend was arrested and charged with murdering and raping her on January 31 last year, two days after her body was found in a patch of veld in Windhoek. She appeared to have been bludgeoned to death with a pickaxe handle and three large blood-spattered rocks that were found nearby. Then aged 17, Akwenye’s boyfriend was still a Grade 12 student at Delta Secondary School, Windhoek, where Akwenye was in Grade 10. His last two birthdays – the young man turned 19 just last weekend – have been spent in custody. In court last Tuesday for the hearing of his second bail application, the suspect was neatly dressed, but his physical condition since a first, failed bid for bail, in April last year, appeared to have deteriorated. He looked gaunt, with bags under his eyes. His defence lawyer, Jan Wessels, argued that investigation of the case – one of Namibia’s most high-profile recent murder cases – had, in effect, been stalled for six months because of a long wait for test results from Namibia’s national forensics laboratory. In that time, his young client had had to stay in custody with no idea of how long he had to wait for his trial to start. Once in the witness stand, he seemed to come across as intelligent and well spoken, going head to head with Public Prosecutor Lindrowski Tibinyane who at times subjected him to aggressive cross-examination. As with his first bail bid, the suspect again refused to answer questions about the charges against him. Last July he pleaded not guilty to counts of murder and rape. Since then, his case has been postponed repeatedly pending direction from the Prosecutor General on the proposed course of the prosecution. During last week’s hearing, though, it emerged that the PG and the Police were first awaiting lab test results requested in February last year. The tests are understood to be of material found on Akwenye’s underwear, and of blood found on the rocks and pickaxe handle – the suspected murder weapons – as well as of blood spots claimed to have been found on the suspect’s shoes. The young man must spend another month in custody before he returns to court – on March 24.