Roland Routh

The Legal Aid-instructed defence lawyer of an Angolan national, who allegedly informed his neighbours and the police that he killed his live-in girlfriend and showed them the body, is now claiming it was the ex-boyfriend of the deceased that killed her.

Solomon Kanyemba, who is representing Johannes Tobias (50), told a State witness that it could have been the ex-boyfriend of the deceased, Miriam Block, with who he was in an intimate relationship, on 1 July 2021. According to Kanyemba, the deceased and the ex-boyfriend never broke up, but continued their relationship even though she was also in a relationship with Tobias. He further told the witness, Jonny Block, a brother to the deceased, that the child she claimed to have had with the accused, was fathered by the ex-boyfriend, and that the deceased admitted this to the accused.

He also said the ex-boyfriend frequented the house the deceased shared with the accused, claiming the child and that it was him – and not the accused – who stabbed his sister out of jealousy.

Tobias, who allegedly told his neighbours and the police that he killed the deceased, disputed that admission at the start of his trial.

He is now claiming he never informed his neighbours that he killed his girlfriend or that he showed them the body of the victim, and neither did he confess to a police officer that he killed the victim.

Tobias pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder, read with the provisions of the Combating of Domestic Violence Act, before Windhoek High Court Judge Naomi Shivute. 

His Legal Aid lawyer Kanyemba confirmed the instruction and told the court his client will not provide a plea explanation; he put the onus on the State to prove the allegation.

It is alleged by the State that Tobias killed girlfriend, according to the summary of substantial facts in the indictment, he admitted he attacked the victim inside the shack they shared in Rehoboth’s Block E, and stabbed her 11 times with a knife all over her body. Block died at the scene due to the injuries.

Yesterday, the brother, who broke down in tears during his testimony, informed the court that the relationship between his sister and the accused was good at first, but quickly degraded. According to him, when he was introduced to Tobias in 2019, the relationship between them was good but worsened in 2020 to the extent that Tobias started beating his sister.

He further said he witnessed one such a beating and took his sister to the police station in Rehoboth so the police can speak to Tobias, which they did. He then went to a farm where he was employed and later was informed by his younger brother that his sister was murdered by her boyfriend. During cross-examination by Kanyemba, he said he took it to be the accused as his sister was in a relationship with him at the time. “What he did was very wrong, why did he not fight with the former boyfriend, why did he have to kill her?” he asked through his tears.

The matter continues today and Ethel Ndlovu appears for the prosecution. Tobias remains in custody at the section for trial awaiting inmates at the Windhoek Correctional Facility.  

- rrouth@nepc.com.na