Samuel Shinedima
THE prolonged 12-year criminal trial of Marcus Thomas and Kevan Townsend, both American nationals facing murder charges, has eventually reached its end, with the verdict to be announced by High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg on September 6, 2023.
The case stems from January 2011 after the untimely death of 25-year-old Andre Heckmair, who was found shot in his car on the quiet streets of Klein Windhoek. After an extensive investigation, two American men visiting Namibia came under suspicion when the examination of an MTC Itemized bill revealed them as the last individuals to have contact with the deceased and were subsequently taken into custody.
After the trial faced numerous hindrances, including challenging the state’s case on technical and legal issues surrounding the admissibility of state-provided evidence, unsuccessful attempts to secure bail, and changes in defence lawyers, the two accused individuals have been held in pre-trial detention for nearly 13 years.
The main point of contention revolves around the inability to locate the murder weapon and any other evidence directly connecting the accused individuals to the crime, except for the MTC record. The forensic specialists provided testimony stating that during the search on January 7, 2011, they only discovered barrels of a 9mm firearm and a silencer. These items were sent to the forensic laboratory, where it was confirmed that both were brand new and had never been used. Furthermore, the suspected murder weapon’s bullet is of a different calibre, measuring 7.65 mm.
Recently, Salomon Kanyemba, representing Thomas, and Mbanga Siyomunji, representing Townsend, argued that the state’s evidence against their clients was fabricated to fit the state’s agenda. They claimed that the police, without corroborating evidence, arrested the suspects and searched a guest house for a gun allegedly used in the crime but failed to test the accused for gunpowder residue.
According to the defence lawyers, the police skipped the gunpowder residue test as they aimed to frame the accused instead of gathering crucial evidence to aid the court’s evaluation.
Felix Ndikoma, a Chief Inspector in the Namibia Police force, testified that they refrained from conducting the test as it wouldn’t have helped the court, considering the possibility that the accused had taken a shower.
Near the end of the trial, following the state’s closing argument, the two men filed an application under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, requesting a discharge. This section allows the court to declare a verdict of not guilty if it finds that the evidence presented is too weak for a reasonable and cautious court to convict.
The court reviewed all the evidence and circumstances presented during the state’s case. It concluded there’s enough evidence for a reasonable court to convict Thomas and Townsend on the charges. Consequently, their application was dismissed.
In its judgment on this application, the court remarked that the deceased was shot with the same type of pistol sold to the accused during their stay in Namibia. However, the pistol couldn’t be found during the police investigation, and its disappearance remains unexplained, and that only the accused could reasonably provide an account for this.
High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg will pronounce this significant verdict at 10:00 on 6th September 2023.
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