Trial over murder of German tourist starts

THE two men accused of murdering a German tourist during an armed robbery in the Khomas Hochland west of Windhoek almost three years ago have finally gone on trial in the High Court in Windhoek.

The trial of Paulus Kamati (29) and former Policeman Fanuel Festus Shipanga (40) started before Acting Judge Dinnah Usiku in the High Court on the grounds of Windhoek Central Prison on Thursday last week with both men pleading not guilty to all of the charges they are facing.These are counts of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping, possession of firearms without a licence and illegal possession of ammunition.Shipanga and Kamati are accused of attacking a German couple, Johannes and Elke Fellinger, when the couple visited the Von Francois Feste (fort) stone ruins some 60 kilometres west of Windhoek on July 8 2007.The couple had arrived in Namibia on a visit from Germany earlier that day.After renting a bakkie they drove out of Windhoek on the C28 road leading to the coast.When they made a stop at the Von Francois Feste, two armed men attacked the couple. Mr Fellinger (56) was killed when he was shot in the head, while Mrs Fellinger was assaulted by being hit on the head with a firearm.The attackers then forced Mrs Fellinger into the rental car and drove off with her and her husband’s body.The body was dumped in the veld on a farm in the vicinity. In the course of their flight from the scene, the attackers overturned the bakkie on a farm road and, leaving Mrs Fellinger behind, continued to flee on foot.Part of the evidence already placed before Acting Judge Usiku is a report on the autopsy that the late State pathologist Dr Elizabeth Shangula carried out on Fellinger’s remains.Dr Shangula recorded that Fellinger had been shot in the head, with the entrance wound on the top of his head and the exit wound on the right back side of his head. She described the wound as ‘a near contact wound’, indicating that the killer must have been very close to Fellinger when the deadly shot was fired.In the charges that Shipanga and Kamati are facing it is alleged that they had been armed with two 9 mm Browning pistols and a 7,65 pistol, and that they had these weapons and ammunition illegally in their possession from July 6 to 8 2007.Shipanga was arrested at Ondangwa on August 3 2007. Kamati was arrested in Windhoek on September 14 2007.They have remained in custody since their arrest.Shipanga is being represented by defence lawyer Sisa Namandje, while Frans Kwala is representing Kamati. State advocate Ethel Ndlovu is prosecuting.The trial is continuing today, and has been set down on the court roll until the end of June.