Stabbing suspect convicted of murder

A RESIDENT of Otjiwarongo who admitted that he killed a friend of his former girlfriend in December 2010 by stabbing him repeatedly with a hunting knife has been found guilty of murder.

Judge Naomi Shivute convicted Elias Nghiikovali Lukas (29) of murder, committed with a direct intent to kill, in the Windhoek High Court on Friday last week.

She found that the number of times that Lukas stabbed the late Malakia Matias at Otjiwarongo during the night of 16 to 17 December 2010, coupled with the parts of body that the stabbing was directed at and the kind of weapon used to carry out the attack, provided proof that Lukas intended to kill Matias.

She rejected Lukas’ claim that he acted in self-defence when he stabbed the 26-year-old Matias.

Lukas claimed during his trial that Matias was the aggressor when they met outside the house of Lukas’ former girlfriend at Otjiwarongo in the early morning hours of 17 December 2010. He claimed Matias made an insulting remark towards him, punched him on his chin, and then pulled out a knife.

He also claimed that he then took out his own knife and stabbed Matias in the chest. When Matias then tried to run away from him, he pursued Matias and again stabbed him repeatedly after catching up with him.

Two eyewitnesses – Lukas’ former girlfriend and her mother – who saw the altercation between the two men told the court that they did not see Matias pulling out a knife before he tried to run away from Lukas, Judge Shivute said. She also noted that no knife was found at the scene where Matias was found lying dead in a pool of blood after the stabbing.

Matias died after being stabbed 11 times with a large hunting knife. He was stabbed seven times in the chest and once in the back, and died as a result of injuries to his liver and one lung, according to a post-mortem examination report provided to the court.

Judge Shivute concluded that at least from the moment Matias fled from Lukas, the latter’s life was not in imminent danger. Since Lukas was not under unlawful attack when he stabbed Matias, it could not be said that he was acting in self-defence, the judge reasoned. She found that Lukas had no lawful justification to kill Matias.

Having been convicted, Lukas’ bail was cancelled and he was told that he would now be kept in police custody. He is due to return to court on 4 December for the hearing of further testimony and oral arguments from State advocate Ethel Ndlovu and defence lawyer Titus Ipumbu before he is sentenced.

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