Young suspects on trial over cop killing

TWO young men accused of robbing and murdering a member of the Windhoek City Police in his home in early 2005 both pleaded not guilty to all charges when their trial finally started in the High Court in Windhoek last week.

More than four years after the event, Steven Goagoseb (24) and Michael Williams (23) went on trial before Judge Kato van Niekerk on Thursday on charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances. Goagoseb and Williams pleaded not guilty to both charges.They are accused of robbing Windhoek City Police officer Anton Matesu (40) in his house in the city’s Dorado Park area during the night from January 22 to 23 2005. They are also accused of murdering Matesu by tying him up and gagging him during the alleged robbery. The prosecution is alleging that Matesu died of asphyxiation as a result of the gagging.While Goagoseb and Williams denied guilt on both charges, their lawyers, Lucia Hamutenya and Bradley Basson, told Judge Van Niekerk in plea explanations on behalf of the two charged men that they admit that a host of items claimed to have been stolen from Matesu in the alleged robbery were later discovered at houses shared by Goagoseb and Williams.These items included a computer, a printer, two television sets, a DVD home theatre system, a microwave oven, other kitchen utensils, two wristwatches, a mirror in a gold-coloured frame, and a men’s shaver.The first witness to testify in the trial, Marshel Lewis, told the Judge that she was in a relationship with Williams at the time of the incident. She said when she woke up at home on the morning of January 23 2005 she saw a lot of things that had not been there before. These included a television set, some cooking pots, a computer, a sandwich maker and other things hidden from view under a piece of cloth, she said.Lewis testified that when she asked Williams what was going on and where the things had come from, he just told her not to worry about it.Williams gave her the same answer when she again touched on the subject the next day, she said. Later that day, she found both Williams and Goagoseb at the house, Lewis said. She claimed she then overheard them talking about what had happened during the night of January 22 to 23 2005.They were relating that they had met someone at a club and gone to his house with him after they had asked him to give them a lift to a shop, she said.At his house, Williams and the man were at some point lying on a bed, when Goagoseb came and ‘pressed’ on the man’s throat until he ‘fainted’, Lewis said.The two suspects were arrested later in the day after that alleged conversation.After their arrest, she went to visit Williams where he was being kept in Police custody, Lewis added. She said he then told her again that Goagoseb had ‘pressed’ the man until he ‘fainted’.Photographs taken at Matesu’s house after he was found dead in his bedroom on the evening of January 23 2005 show him lying face down on the floor next to a bed. His hands were tied behind his back, while his feet were tied near his ankles.Matesu was also gagged.Basson, who is representing Williams, told Lewis that his instructions from Williams were that Williams never told her anything about Matesu having been tied up, because Williams never saw anything like that. Lewis’s reply to this was that Williams mentioned to her that the man’s hands and feet were tied, and that they loaded things onto a vehicle after that.Matesu’s stepson, Keith Jacobs, testified yesterday that he met Goagoseb and Williams at Khomas Mall on the evening of January 22 2005. After Goagoseb asked him if he knew Matesu, who was also at Khomas Mall, he told Goagoseb that Matesu was married to his mother, Jacobs said.Goagoseb then told him that they had helped Matesu earlier that evening, after Matesu had fallen and sustained a cut to his forehead, Jacobs said.He told the Judge that Goagoseb and Williams accompanied him, his mother, Matesu and other people when they tried to take Matesu to a hospital to get treatment for the wound to his head. Matesu however refused to go to the hospital, and they finally returned to Khomas Mall, where he last saw his stepfather, Goagoseb and Williams, Jacobs said.The trial is continuing today.State advocate Belinda Wantenaar is prosecuting. The two charged men have been kept in custody since their arrest.