A Gobabis resident, who was released from custody on parole on a previous murder conviction, wants the Windhoek High Court to release him on bail, pending his trial on another murder charge.
Petrus Hoxobeb (57) is charged with murdering Josephine Afrikaner by stabbing her with a knife at least nine times at a shebeen in the Freedom Square informal settlement in Gobabis during the evening hours of Sunday 14 July 2019.
His trial is set to start before Judge Shivute on 5 May and he is appealing a decision by the Gobabis Magistrate Court refusing him bail.
According to Hoxobeb’s legal aid lawyer Eliaser Shiikwa, his client is not a flight risk as suggested by the State, as he has strong family ties in Namibia, a fixed property in the form of a house in Gobabis and no family ties outside of Namibia.
He further argued the imposition of a condition that Hoxobeb must report to the police station in Gobabis should ally this fear.
With regard to the fear of the State that his client might interfere with witnesses, Shiikwa said this can easily be curbed with the imposition of a condition that Hoxobeb may not interfere with witnesses or have any contact with them.
He further said the fear of the State that Hoxobeb might re-offend and carry out his threat to kill himself can also be cured by the condition of daily reporting to the police in Gobabis. In any event, he said, if Hoxobeb had any plans to commit suicide, he could have done so before he was arrested.
Solomon Kanyemba, who is representing the State, called the investigating officer, Bartho Kandjombo, to testify in opposition of the bail appeal.
According to Kandjombo, it would not be in the interest of the administration of justice or the interest of the public to release Hoxobeb on bail, as he has a history of violence. He further said that society is crying for criminals to be removed from society.
According to him, Hoxobeb was apprehended while hiding in the bushes during morning hours, the day after the murder. He said, in his opinion, Hoxobeb, who has already tasted incarceration, will do anything to avoid a repeat, which he is certain will happen, as they have overwhelming evidence against him.
He also said this murder was committed in much the same manner as the one Hoxobeb was convicted of before.
According to the indictment, Hoxobeb and the victim were in a relationship sometime prior to her death, but they were no longer involved. During the evening of 14 July 2019, the victim was socialising with some of her friends at a shebeen.
During the evening, the victim left the shebeen to relieve herself outside, accompanied by Esmie Thomelo, who is the complainant in the charge of assault by threat Hoxobeb is also facing.
It is further alleged that Hoxobeb then followed them, armed with a knife, and pounced on the squatting Afrikaner and stabbed her. When Thomelo wanted to intervene, he threatened to stab her with the knife he was still wielding.
The victim died on the spot due to blood loss caused by stab wounds to the heart and lungs.
Hoxobeb then fled the scene and was arrested while hiding in a mountainous area within the Gobabis district.
Judge Shivute will deliver her ruling on the bail appeal on 12 May.