Samuel Shinedima
THE woman accused of murdering her friend and the mother of her ex-boyfriend’s child, Shannon Wasserfall, in April 2020, has pleaded not guilty to the count of murder levelled against her.
The 30-year-old Azaan Madisia, who stands accused on five counts, including murder, has only pleaded guilty to the count of defeating or obstructing/attempting to defeat the course of justice, where she agreed to have disposed of the then 22-year old’s remains in the dunes.
She claimed that her brother, Steven Mulundu, assisted her in transporting the body from the murder scene to the dunes.
In her plea read into the court record by her lawyer, Albert Titus, the murder accused admitted that on 10 April 2020 she was at her home in Walvis Bay, which is a backyard flat in her grandmother’s house. After the deceased and she had allegedly gotten into an altercation, she purportedly realised that Wasserfall was not displaying any signs of life and presumed she was dead.
“This caused me to go into a state of extreme shock initially and thereafter, a state of panic. I was pacing up and down in my flat, very worried and afraid. I kept thinking to myself that if someone should come in here at this moment, it would look terrible,” she pleaded.
Azaan continued that she was not sure what to do but realised that she would be blamed for the deceased’s death because she was with her when she died, and that she worried if anyone would believe her if she explained the incident.
“I then called my brother, Steven Mulundu, and asked him to come over to my house immediately because something terrible had happened,” she explained.
When the brother arrived, she said he asked her what was going on because the deceased was still lying there unconsciously.
“I told him that we argued, wrestled each other, and the deceased pushed me and I pushed her back. She fell over the bed. My brother asked me if she took any substances, and I said I don’t know, but I don’t think so,” she added.
She admitted that her brother had suggested that they call the police, which she agreed to but later turned down as she feared being arrested. She allegedly suggested that they go and leave the body somewhere, and that her brother helped her carry the body and load it on the bakkie she had at the time. The bakkie belonged to the company she was working for.
“I took the deceased’s baby into my grandmother’s main house and left him with my relatives. They asked me what is going on and where I am going, and I just told them that I will be back soon. We drove and stopped near the Dunes Mall. I got out of the car and started digging a shallow grave with my hands. My brother helped me remove the deceased from the vehicle, and we placed her in the shallow grave. On our way back, I kept thinking about the terrible thing we had just done,” she testified.
Wasserfall’s body was discovered six months later by police after the accused sent a text message with an unknown number directing the family to where their daughter was found.
“I felt extremely sorry, in particular, for Shannon’s parents, who had not gotten any closure and did not know what happened to their daughter. So in October, I used a SIM card from my workplace. I then sent a text message to the deceased’s father, directing him to where we had buried the deceased,” she concluded.
The duo is being tried on charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, defeating or attempting to defeat the course of justice, as well as fraud and, alternatively, theft. Their trial is under way in the High Court of Namibia before Judge Christie Liebenberg, with Henry Muhongo representing the state.
