Suspects admit panga killing of Russians

THE two young men accused of murdering a Russian couple at a poultry farm near Okahandja in May 2008 each admitted one count of murder at the start of their trial in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday.

Ruben Tjombe (21) and Fritz Gaoseb (22) are each charged with two counts of murder and one of robbery with aggravating circumstances in the trial that has begun before Judge Johan Swanepoel.They are accused of a bloody double murder at a smallhol-ding some 10 kilometres north of Okahandja on the weekend of May 9 to 11 2008, when a Russian couple, Andrei Pastouchkov (50) and Svetlana Lobanova (44), were hacked to death with a panga and a variety of items were stolen from the couple’s house.Tjombe yesterday admitted that he murdered Lobanova. He also admitted guilt on the charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances, but denied that he had any part in the murder of Pastouchkov.Gaoseb in turn admitted that he murdered Pastouchkov, but denied taking part in the killing of Lobanova. He also claimed that he was guilty only of theft, rather than robbery, in connection with the theft of goods from the murdered couple’s house after they had been killed.State advocate Belinda Wantenaar told Judge Swanepoel that the prosecution was not accepting the pleas as offered by the two charged men. The prosecution would be leading evidence in a trial in an effort to prove that Tjombe and Gaoseb had acted with a common purpose, and thus that each of them should be found guilty on both murder counts and on the robbery charge, Wantenaar indicated to the court.Pastouchkov and Lobanova were discovered murdered at their plot, where they were farming with poultry, on May 13 2008.In plea explanations from the two charged men that were placed before Judge Swanepoel, they state that the murders had been committed on May 10 2008. Both of them had been employed by the murdered couple.Tjombe stated that he killed Lobanova ‘with a panga by hitting her a few times around the upper body’. He admitted that he hit her three times with the panga – once on her neck, and with other blows directed at her face and chest. He also admitted that when he did this, it was his intention to kill her, and that he had not been provoked and did not act in self-defence.According to testimony given by a State pathologist, Dr Yuri Vasin, yesterday afternoon, a total of 15 cut wounds were found on Lobanova’s body when an autopsy was done on her remains. These included a deep wound to the right side of her face which had been inflicted with ‘excessive, massive force’ and resulted in her lower jaw being fractured. Another wound to the right side of her neck was fatal in itself, as Lobanova’s spinal cord was cut with the blow that caused this wound, Dr Vasin told the court. Pastouchkov died from a cut wound to the back of his head. ‘Massive force’ would also have been needed to inflict such a wound, with Pastouchkov’s spinal column and spinal cord severed with the blow that was directed at the back of his neck, Dr Vasin said.Gaoseb claimed he hit Pastouchkov in anger with a panga after Pastouchkov turned his back on him and walked away while Gaoseb was trying to explain to him why he needed N$400 to buy a coffin for a step-son of his whose body was lying in the Okahandja mortuary. ‘This insensitivity towards my problem caused my anger to flare up and I took the panga which I had in my waist belt and hit him once on the neck,’ Gaoseb stated.He related that Tjombe helped him to carry Pastouchkov’s body into a workshop.Gaoseb also admitted that he was on the scene when Lobanova was murdered – but claimed that he did not encourage or take part in this murder or agree with anyone to kill her. The trial is set to continue today.Tjombe is represented by Unanisa Hengari. Gaoseb is represented by Lucia Hamutenya.