Trial date set for man accused of parading murder victim’s head

A MURDER suspect accused of parading his victim’s severed head around cuca shops in the Eenhana area last year is set to go on trial during a circuit court session of the High Court at Oshakati in April.

Joseph Hakoonde Ngoya (33) made a first pre-trial appearance before Judge Sylvester Mainga in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday. He faces a count of murder over the death of 57-year-old Elias Kahandja Shoombe at the village Ongumi in the Eenhana district on September 3.The State is alleging that Ngoya told Shoombe’s wife on that day that she should warn her husband that if he and Ngoya met, someone would die.When Ngoya later met Shoombe, someone did indeed die.That person was Shoombe, it is claimed.It is further alleged that when Ngoya later met Shoombe, he stabbed Shoombe with a knife – and then he chopped off his head.”The accused subsequently took the deceased’s severed head to the cuca shops in the area and showed it to several people,” it is stated in the charge sheet.It was reported at the time that the Police in the Ohangwena Region, where Ongumi is situated, claimed that Ngoya had said that he killed Shoombe because Shoombe had a relationship with Ngoya’s girlfriend in 2002.The Police also claimed that after Ngoya had beheaded Shoombe, he impaled the head on a stick and carried it to nearby cuca shops, where he allegedly asked people whether they knew whose head it was.”I have at last killed this bad man and you can now go and report it to the Police,” he was claimed to have said to witnesses.State Advocate Orben Sibeya told Judge Mainga during yesterday’s appearance that Ngoya’s case was to be transferred to the High Court at Oshakati for trial.The High Court is scheduled to hold a circuit court session at the northern town from April 18.Arrangements to provide Ngoya with legal representation for the trial will have to be sorted out in the meantime.Ngoya has been in custody since September 3, and is set to stay in custody until the trial starts.He faces a count of murder over the death of 57-year-old Elias Kahandja Shoombe at the village Ongumi in the Eenhana district on September 3.The State is alleging that Ngoya told Shoombe’s wife on that day that she should warn her husband that if he and Ngoya met, someone would die.When Ngoya later met Shoombe, someone did indeed die.That person was Shoombe, it is claimed.It is further alleged that when Ngoya later met Shoombe, he stabbed Shoombe with a knife – and then he chopped off his head.”The accused subsequently took the deceased’s severed head to the cuca shops in the area and showed it to several people,” it is stated in the charge sheet.It was reported at the time that the Police in the Ohangwena Region, where Ongumi is situated, claimed that Ngoya had said that he killed Shoombe because Shoombe had a relationship with Ngoya’s girlfriend in 2002.The Police also claimed that after Ngoya had beheaded Shoombe, he impaled the head on a stick and carried it to nearby cuca shops, where he allegedly asked people whether they knew whose head it was.”I have at last killed this bad man and you can now go and report it to the Police,” he was claimed to have said to witnesses.State Advocate Orben Sibeya told Judge Mainga during yesterday’s appearance that Ngoya’s case was to be transferred to the High Court at Oshakati for trial.The High Court is scheduled to hold a circuit court session at the northern town from April 18.Arrangements to provide Ngoya with legal representation for the trial will have to be sorted out in the meantime.Ngoya has been in custody since September 3, and is set to stay in custody until the trial starts.