Samuel Shinedima
MBANGA Siyomunji, the lawyer for American murder suspect Kevin Townsend, said in court on Wednesday morning that the police neglected to conduct a gun powder residue test in order to present substantial evidence.
The two accused, Marcus Thomas and Kevin Townsend, are charged with the assassination of Andre Heckmair in 2011 and were arrested on the same day of the murder incident while at a guest house in Windhoek.
Siyomunji claimed that on the day that the two suspects were arrested, the police went to the guest house with the aim of searching for a gun suspected of being used in the commission of the crime, but the police did not test the accused for gun powder residue.
According to the defence lawyer, the police did not conduct the gun powder residue test because they had a preconceived agenda to plant evidence and indict the accused persons rather than creating important evidence that may assist the court in evaluating the facts of the case.
When asked why a gun powder residue test was not performed, state witness Felix Ndikoma, a Chief Inspector in the Namibia Police force, stated that they could not do the test because they felt the accused may have had a shower and that it would not have aided the court in any way.
However, High Court of Namibia Justice Christie Liebenberg interrupted, pointing out that the officer’s suggestion that the accused may have had a shower s pure speculation.
Chief Inspector Ndikoma agreed to the forensic report that established that there were no shots fired from the silencer found in the possession of the accused two men during their arrest.
Some of the confiscated items brought before court as exhibits include a cell phone, gloves, the above-mentioned silencer, and many others.
The witness also stated that he believes Townsend’s mobile phone is connected to the crime since it was used to communicate when they were getting a firearm, and that the gloves discovered were worn by the accused when they collected the firearm.
When questioned by the defence lawyer, Ndikoma admitted that the mobile phone and gloves were not used in the murder but were related to the crime.
“The gloves were sent to the Forensic institute with the request to determine any DNA Gun powder but I am not sure if I received any report. The cell phone was also sent and there was a report that came but I can’t remember the content of the report anymore” said Ndikoma.
Nevertheless, the defence lawyer contended that the witness lacks evidence to convince the court that DNA or gun powder were found on the gloves, and that such gloves were not used and cannot be linked to the crime.
