Threesome caused cell murder

AN alleged love triangle between three inmates form the centre of the Police investigation into the death of a 33-year-old prisoner in the Windhoek Central Prison on Wednesday.

Deputy Commissioner Silvanus Nghishidimbwa yesterday said it is alleged that one of the three men could not accept that their three-man relationship ‘went sour’, after which a fight broke out leading to one’s brutal death. He emphasised that no ‘official confession’ in writing has been made. But The Namibian understands that the two suspects have confessed to the murder during interrogation.The incident took place in Cell 4 of the Windhoek Central Prison between 12h00 and 14h00 on Wednesday. A warder went to inspect the cells and made the gruesome discovery. The deceased was lying dead in a pool of blood in the bathroom.He had ‘multiple stab wounds’ all over his face, neck and chest.Two metal brackets, connecting brooms to broomsticks, are suspected to have been the murder weapons and were found in the possession of the suspects. ‘You and I see it as a broom; while inmates see it as a weapon,’ Nghishidimbwa said.The murder is aggravated by an expectation that sentenced prisoners ‘are believed to rehabilitate while in custody and then they go on and commit additional offences’.Like the Inspector General of the Namibian Police, Lieutenant General Sebastian Ndeitunga, Deputy Commissioner Tuhafeni Hangula of the Namibian Prison Service yesterday described the incident as a ‘horrific tragedy’.Hangula said it was premature to say whether prison warders would be held responsible for the incident.’Should there turn out to have been negligence on our part, disciplinary steps will be taken.’In the over 21 years he has served in the Prison Service, this is the first murder he has come across, he said.Although he confirmed that the three men were held in one cell with other inmates, the information at his disposal indicated that other inmates did not witness the murder, Hangula said.Asked about the alleged love triangle, he said: ‘I cannot confirm or deny it.’The identity of the deceased is being withheld because his next of kin have not been informed of his death.Nghishidimbwa said the two suspects will appear on a charge of murder in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court in Katutura today.

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