WINDHOEKFRED GOEIEMAN
A 43-year-old man, who has admitted to strangling his pregnant wife in 2008 and also stands accused of his girlfriend's murder two years ago, allegedly used a homemade knife in the second killing.
This emerged last week in the High Court last week during the evidence of Nampol Detective Sergeant Petrus Mbangula, who said Aloyis Ditshabue allegedly used a 15cm traditional knife to stab Alida Kambende to death two years ago in Gobabis.
The knife was handed into the court as an exhibit.
Ditshabue earlier last week admitted to the murder of his wife, Marcella Ditshabue, on the night of February 17, 2008 in their home at Corridor 18, in the Aminius District.
In his plea explanation, the accused claimed had strangled his pregnant wife because she was committing adultery.
He has, however, denied stabbing the 36-year-old Kambende six times with a homemade knife on July 10, 2011 in the Epako suburb of at Gobabis.
Kambende died at the scene.
The daughter of the deceased, Fulgentia Kambenda, testified that Ditshabue stabbed himself in the chest at the scene of the crime when he was asked what had happened.
Last week Mbangula testified that the accused had not alleged to him that someone else had committed the murder.
According to the police officer, the deceased had a huge wound in her chest and there was blood all over her body, on her clothing and on the floor. He said the accused also had a wound to chest at the time and there was blood on his hands. Mbangula said he had called an ambulance to remove the body of the deceased and to take Ditshabue to hospital.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the reason for an earlier delay in the trial was not as a result of acting Judge Maphios Cheda not attending court, but was in fact due to defence attorney Willem Visser requesting a postponement between August 1 and August 6.
The attorney had indicated in a letter to the Office of the Prosecutor-General on July 29 that he would not be available on August 1, 2 and 5, due to prior commitments.
Jacky #Eichab appears for the State.
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