Tall person could have shot Kandara

THE possibility that Lazarus Kandara could have died at the hands of someone other than himself could not be ruled out, the inquest into his death heard in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

State forensic doctor Gonzalo Gonzales reluctantly conceded that, given the evidence, the gunshot wound that claimed Kandara’s life was not necessarily self-inflicted. “It’s a possibility,” the doctor responded hesitantly to a question from Kandara family advocate Gerson Hinda.Hinda had asked whether the evidence could suggest that the gunshot came from someone other than Kandara himself.”Can a person other than the deceased, who was taller, have fired downwards on the deceased?” Hinda asked.The doctor shrugged his shoulders before answering that the gunshot wound could have been caused in the way Hinda suggested.But what was certain was that the gunshot came from very close range, the doctor said.Kandara (40) died at the entrance of the Windhoek Central Police station on August 24, only hours after his arrest on theft and fraud charges.He had been testifying in a High Court inquiry into a N$30 million investment the Social Security Commission made with Kandara’s company, Avid Investment Corporation.Gonzalves confirmed on Friday that Kandara’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest.He said the bullet had damaged a heart artery, caused contusions to Kandara’s lungs and injured his spinal cord.BULLET WENT DOWNWARDS Explaining his autopsy report through an interpreter, Gonzales said the bullet entered Kandara’s chest at a downward angle at the level of the breastbone.He gave the exact height of the entry wound as 1,37 metres.Kandara was 1,78 m tall.The bullet was found lodged between his skin and clothing slightly lower than where it entered, on the right side of his back at a height of about 1,22 metres.Gonzales explained that the bullet had travelled downwards through Kandara’s body after entering his chest.Judging by the type of wound and the gunpowder burns on Kandara’s chest, the weapon had been fired at very close range, he said.Other observations made by Gonzales during the autopsy was that Kandara’s liver contained nodules of different sizes, possibly as a result of cirrhosis, while he had also sustained damage to his left kidney as a result of infection at some point in time.The autopsy also revealed that he was HIV negative.Hinda however chose to focus on the details of a second autopsy report – that of Dr Linda Liebenberg, whom the Kandara family flew in from Cape Town, where she is attached to the University of Cape Town, to perform another autopsy.Liebenberg found the bullet had entered the chest at a 30-degree downward angle and lodged in the skin near the vertebrae on Kandara’s back.Hinda alerted the court to her findings of haemorrhaging in the soft tissue in Kandara’s neck area and put it to Gonzales whether he agreed with Liebenberg’s theories that it might have been caused by a “blunt trauma”.Gonzales did not mention the haemorrhaging in his autopsy report, and told the court that this was because he found it irrelevant to Kandara’s cause of death.He also said that he found no external marks in Kandara’s neck area to indicate that the bleeding might have been caused by external forces or the resuscitation methods used by paramedics at the scene.DEATH FACTORS Gonzales argued that besides the physical evidence, other factors had to be taken into account when determining a suicide, such as the environment the death took place in.Usually, he said, people had time to contemplate how they would take their life (usually by shooting themselves in the head or mouth) and could precisely place the weapon so that death was imminent.Given the circumstances in which Kandara died, Gonzales said he did not find it odd that the gun was placed and fired at an angle.So far, the court has not heard whether any gunpowder residue was found on Kandara’s hands to support the theory that he shot himself.The Namibian understands that these tests have proven inconclusive.Gonzales maintained, however, that the hands of someone who fired a weapon did not necessarily show evidence of gunpowder residue and that this was dependent on the type of weapon.He said a revolver was more likely to leave gunpowder traces on the hands of the person who handled it.Kandara was killed by a bullet fired from a 9 mm pistol.BLOOD-SOAKED CLOTHING For the first time on Friday, the blood-soaked clothes that Kandara wore on the night of his death were shown as exhibits in court.Gonzales was asked to explain a large hole in the chest area of a navy-blue shirt, which he said was much larger than the actual bullet because gunpowder had burnt into the fabric.The court also saw a bloodstained, long-sleeved maroon tracksuit top, sand-coloured tracksuit pants with bloodstains on the legs, satin boxer shorts, black underpants and black slip-on shoes.Gonzales, a Cuban national who has been attached to the mortuary at the Windhoek Central Hospital for about 16 months, performed the post-mortem on Kandara at around 08h00 on the day after his death.Gonzales said he had performed autopsies on thousands of bodies since qualifying as a forensic pathologist in Cuba in 1980.After more than an hour of testimony, Gonzales stepped out of the witness box to make way for the testimony of several Police officers.The State chose not to question Gonzales.Deputy Commissioner Andries van der Byl, who is next on the witness list, was not present in court, and Magistrate Maria Mahalie warned the Police officers present that they had better all be available today to testify when the inquest continues.”It’s a possibility,” the doctor responded hesitantly to a question from Kandara family advocate Gerson Hinda.Hinda had asked whether the evidence could suggest that the gunshot came from someone other than Kandara himself.”Can a person other than the deceased, who was taller, have fired downwards on the deceased?” Hinda asked.The doctor shrugged his shoulders before answering that the gunshot wound could have been caused in the way Hinda suggested.But what was certain was that the gunshot came from very close range, the doctor said.Kandara (40) died at the entrance of the Windhoek Central Police station on August 24, only hours after his arrest on theft and fraud charges. He had been testifying in a High Court inquiry into a N$30 million investment the Social Security Commission made with Kandara’s company, Avid Investment Corporation.Gonzalves confirmed on Friday that Kandara’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the chest.He said the bullet had damaged a heart artery, caused contusions to Kandara’s lungs and injured his spinal cord. BULLET WENT DOWNWARDS Explaining his autopsy report through an interpreter, Gonzales said the bullet entered Kandara’s chest at a downward angle at the level of the breastbone.He gave the exact height of the entry wound as 1,37 metres.Kandara was 1,78 m tall.The bullet was found lodged between his skin and clothing slightly lower than where it entered, on the right side of his back at a height of about 1,22 metres.Gonzales explained that the bullet had travelled downwards through Kandara’s body after entering his chest.Judging by the type of wound and the gunpowder burns on Kandara’s chest, the weapon had been fired at very close range, he said.Other observations made by Gonzales during the autopsy was that Kandara’s liver contained nodules of different sizes, possibly as a result of cirrhosis, while he had also sustained damage to his left kidney as a result of infection at some point in time.The autopsy also revealed that he was HIV negative.Hinda however chose to focus on the details of a second autopsy report – that of Dr Linda Liebenberg, whom the Kandara family flew in from Cape Town, where she is attached to the University of Cape Town, to perform another autopsy.Liebenberg found the bullet had entered the chest at a 30-degree downward angle and lodged in the skin near the vertebrae on Kandara’s back.Hinda alerted the court to her findings of haemorrhaging in the soft tissue in Kandara’s neck area and put it to Gonzales whether he agreed with Liebenberg’s theories that it might have been caused by a “blunt trauma”.Gonzales did not mention the haemorrhaging in his autopsy report, and told the court that this was because he found it irrelevant to Kandara’s cause of death.He also said that he found no external marks in Kandara’s neck area to indicate that the bleeding might have been caused by external forces or the resuscitation methods used by paramedics at the scene.DEATH FACTORS Gonzales argued that besides the physical evidence, other factors had to be taken into account when determining a suicide, such as the environment the death took place in.Usually, he said, people had time to contemplate how they would take their life (usually by shooting themselves in the head or mouth) and could precisely place the weapon so that death was imminent.Given the circumstances in which Kandara died, Gonzales said he did not find it odd that the gun was placed and fired at an angle.So far, the court has not heard whether any gunpowder residue was found on Kandara’s hands to support the theory that he shot himself.The Namibian understands that these tests have proven inconclusive.Gonzales maintained, however, that the hands of someone who fired a weapon did not necessarily show evidence of gunpowder residue and that this was dependent on the type of weapon.He said a revolver was more likely to leave gunpowder traces on the hands of the person who handled it.Kandara was killed by a bullet fired from a 9 mm pistol.BLOOD-SOAKED CLOTHING For the first time on Friday, the blood-soaked clothes that Kandara wore on the night of his death were shown as exhibits in court.Gonzales was asked to explain a large hole in the chest area of a navy-blue shirt, which he said was much larger than the actual bullet because gunpowder had burnt into the fabric.The court also saw a bloodstained, long-sleeved maroon tracksuit top, sand-coloured tracksuit pants with bloodstains on the legs, satin boxer shorts, black underpants and black slip-on shoes.Gonzales, a Cuban national who has been attached to the mortuary at the Windhoek Central Hospital for about 16 months, performed the post-mortem on Kandara at around 08h00 on the day after his death.Gonzales said he had performed autopsies on thousands of bodies since qualifying as a forensic pathologist in Cuba in 1980.After more than an hour of testimony, Gonzales stepped out of the witness box to make way for the testimony of several Police officers.The State chose not to question Gonzales.Deputy Commissioner Andries van der Byl, who is next on the witness list, was not present in court, and Magistrate Maria Mahalie warned the Police officers present that they had better all be available today to testify when the inquest continues.