Suspect ‘not guilty’ in deadly burglary case

THE sole remaining suspect who had been on trial for the murder of an elderly man in the supposed safety of his granddaughter’s burglar-proofed home in Windhoek during a break-in almost five years ago was found not guilty on Friday.

The acquittal of Joseph Willem Kaluwa (29) in the Windhoek Regional Court means that none of the three men arrested on charges of murder, attempted murder, housebreaking and robbery after a deadly break-in at a house in Olympia in Windhoek in November 2002 have ended up being found guilty and punished for the crimes they were accused of. One of Kaluwa’s co-accused fellow Windhoek resident Fillemon Malangu (29), was pronounced not guilty by Magistrate Dinnah Usiku after the prosecution closed its case against him and Kaluwa earlier this year.Another co-accused, Hafeni Nanghaku, did not live to see the start of his and the other two men’s trial.He died at the age of 29 in a shootout with the Police in northern Namibia on November 5 2003.He had been released on bail of N$2 000 in December the previous year.Nanghaku was killed in the same shootout that ended the life of notorious armed robber Paulus Nandjebo, alias Bob Green, after an armed robbery that claimed the life of a Policeman at Ongwediva.The incident that prompted the arrest of Kaluwa, Malangu and the late Nanghaku took place around midnight at a house in Daan Bekker Street in Olympia on November 6 2002.One of the residents, Sandra Jacobs, and her 83-year-old grandfather, Hendrik Bezuidenhout, who was visiting her, were watching television when they heard a bang in another part of the house and got up to investigate.Equipped with an electrified fence, burglar proofing, security gates and an alarm system, which was switched on at the time, the house was supposed to be secured against unwanted intruders.Still, these precautions did not keep out the person, or persons, who forced a way into the house that evening.Jacobs and Bezuidenhout found themselves face to face with an armed intruder when they went to see what had caused the bang and dogs’ barking that they had heard, Magistrate Usiku heard during the trial.As soon as they had encountered the intruder, the person fired a succession of shots at the unarmed Bezuidenhout.He was shot twice in the abdomen.Jacobs fled to another part of the house, where her two children were in their bedrooms.She eventually hid in a bathroom until she could summon help.Her 10-year-old son however went to see what was going on.When he encountered an intruder in the lounge, the person fired at the boy as well, wounding him in his left leg.Bezuidenhout died at the scene.A music system, a cellphone and some music cassettes were stolen.It was later discovered that a padlock on a small entrance gate to the yard of the house had been cut to gain entrance to the premises.At the house, the kitchen door and its security gate had also been forced open.None of the surviving occupants of the house could identify the intruders.According to testimony heard by Magistrate Usiku, Kaluwa pointed out the place where a 7,65 mm calibre pistol had been hidden under a rock near his house in the One Nation informal settlement in Windhoek to Police investigators two days after the incident.A ballistics examination showed that this firearm was the gun with which Bezuidenhout had been shot.In the Magistrate’s view, however, claims that Kaluwa had pointed out the firearm to the Police were not sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had been involved in the break-in and shooting.During the trial, Kaluwa claimed that Police officers had assaulted him and set him up to do the pointing out by instructing him where to stand and to point at a rock under which the gun was supposedly hidden.The claims that Kaluwa had pointed out the pistol to the Police also did not place the firearm in Kaluwa’s hands or suggest that he had fired the gun during the incident, Kaluwa’s defence lawyer Boris Isaacks argued.After repeated delays, the trial finally started in the Regional Court on February 11 2005, when both Kaluwa and Malangu pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder, malicious damage to property and housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery.Malangu and Kaluwa each spent more than four years in Police custody until their respective acquittals.Malangu was represented by Clive Kavendjii.Dominic Lisulo prosecuted.One of Kaluwa’s co-accused fellow Windhoek resident Fillemon Malangu (29), was pronounced not guilty by Magistrate Dinnah Usiku after the prosecution closed its case against him and Kaluwa earlier this year.Another co-accused, Hafeni Nanghaku, did not live to see the start of his and the other two men’s trial.He died at the age of 29 in a shootout with the Police in northern Namibia on November 5 2003.He had been released on bail of N$2 000 in December the previous year.Nanghaku was killed in the same shootout that ended the life of notorious armed robber Paulus Nandjebo, alias Bob Green, after an armed robbery that claimed the life of a Policeman at Ongwediva.The incident that prompted the arrest of Kaluwa, Malangu and the late Nanghaku took place around midnight at a house in Daan Bekker Street in Olympia on November 6 2002.One of the residents, Sandra Jacobs, and her 83-year-old grandfather, Hendrik Bezuidenhout, who was visiting her, were watching television when they heard a bang in another part of the house and got up to investigate.Equipped with an electrified fence, burglar proofing, security gates and an alarm system, which was switched on at the time, the house was supposed to be secured against unwanted intruders.Still, these precautions did not keep out the person, or persons, who forced a way into the house that evening.Jacobs and Bezuidenhout found themselves face to face with an armed intruder when they went to see what had caused the bang and dogs’ barking that they had heard, Magistrate Usiku heard during the trial.As soon as they had encountered the intruder, the person fired a succession of shots at the unarmed Bezuidenhout.He was shot twice in the abdomen.Jacobs fled to another part of the house, where her two children were in their bedrooms.She eventually hid in a bathroom until she could summon help.Her 10-year-old son however went to see what was going on.When he encountered an intruder in the lounge, the person fired at the boy as well, wounding him in his left leg.Bezuidenhout died at the scene.A music system, a cellphone and some music cassettes were stolen.It was later discovered that a padlock on a small entrance gate to the yard of the house had been cut to gain entrance to the premises.At the house, the kitchen door and its security gate had also been forced open.None of the surviving occupants of the house could identify the intruders.According to testimony heard by Magistrate Usiku, Kaluwa pointed out the place where a 7,65 mm calibre pistol had been hidden under a rock near his house in the One Nation informal settlement in Windhoek to Police investigators two days after the incident.A ballistics examination showed that this firearm was the gun with which Bezuidenhout had been shot.In the Magistrate’s view, however, claims that Kaluwa had pointed out the firearm to the Police were not sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he had been involved in the break-in and shooting.During the trial, Kaluwa claimed that Police officers had assaulted him and set him up to do the pointing out by instructing him where to stand and to point at a rock under which the gun was supposedly hidden.The claims that Kaluwa had pointed out the pistol to the Police also did not place the firearm in Kaluwa’s hands or suggest that he had fired the gun during the incident, Kaluwa’s defence lawyer Boris Isaacks argued.After repeated delays, the trial finally started in the Regional Court on February 11 2005, when both Kaluwa and Malangu pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder, malicious damage to property and housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery.Malangu and Kaluwa each spent more than four years in Police custody until their respective acquittals.Malangu was represented by Clive Kavendjii.Dominic Lisulo prosecuted.