Samuel Shinedima
THE trial of the murder case of Shannon Wasserfall, who was murdered in Walvis Bay nearly two years ago, is scheduled to commence next February, Judge Christie Liebenberg of the High Court of Namibia said this morning.
This is after the lawyers, Albert Titus and Tanya Klazen from the Legal Aid Directorate, who are representing the murder accused persons, Azaan Madisa and Junior Mulundu, told court that the matter is ready to go to trial.
In a brief court appearance, the accused persons were informed that their trial hearing, as agreed by counsels, will run from February, March and April 2023 until the matter is finalised, and that they will remain detained in Windhoek.
During the commencement of the trial on 6 February 2023, their charges will be read to them, where they will be required to plead to the charges leveled against them.
The Wasserfall murder case was transferred to the High Court earlier this year for pre-trial hearing, after they previously made numerous appearances in the Walvis Bay magistrates court.
Wasserfall was 20 at the time when she went missing at the beginning of April in 2020 in Walvis Bay. Her remains were discovered buried on a shallow grave in the dunes six months later. The discovery of her remains followed a text message sent to Wasserfall’s father, that eventually guided the police investigators to the victim’s shallow grave.
The investigations traced the text message back to Madisa, who was also the one who reported that Wasserfall went missing, and at the same allegedly took part in some of the searches conducted in an attempt to find her.
Madisa and her half-brother, Mulundu, have been in custody since their arrest in 2020. Madisa is currently held at the Klein Windhoek holding cells, while Mulundu is kept at the Windhoek Correctional Facility.
