A TEENAGE boy who has admitted that he killed a woman in the Rehoboth area and mutilated her body by cutting off one of her feet was pronounced guilty on seven charges in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.
Nearly four weeks after he pleaded guilty on counts of murder and violating a dead human body, the teen has now been convicted on a charge of rape, two counts of arson and two charges of theft as well.
The 16-year-old boy was 14 years old when he attacked a woman, Sarah Jagger (57), in the Bahnhof area near Rehoboth during the night of 24 to 25 September 2018 and killed her by stoning her.
He admitted at the start of his trial three and a half weeks ago that he killed Jagger and mutilated her body when he returned to the murder scene the next day, inflicted multiple stab wounds on her body and cut off her right foot.
He also told the court in a written plea explanation that he put Jagger’s foot in a plastic bag, which he then threw onto a gravel road near the scene where she had been killed.
Although he denied guilt on five additional counts, the teenager made some admissions on those charges. Based on those admissions and on the testimony one state witness gave during the trial, judge Dinnah Usiku concluded that the teenager had also been proven guilty of rape, two counts of arson and two charges of theft.
She found that he raped Jagger during his attack on her and stole a bag with food and liquor from her.
He also stole cutlery, a gas lighter and a screwdriver from a shack at a farm in the same area and set the shack alight. In the ensuing fire, a neighbouring shack was destroyed as well.
The teenager has not testified in his own defence so far during the trial, which because of his age, has been held behind closed doors.
In his plea explanation, he said he had been smoking cannabis at a friend’s house and was on his way home when he saw Jagger walking. He said “something told me to grab [Jagger]”, and that he then attacked her from behind.
She tried to escape from his grip and managed to crawl through a fence, after which she tried to run away from him, and he then picked up stones which he threw at her until she fell to the ground, he recounted.
He further said when he saw she was not moving he left her at the scene and went home.
When he returned to the scene the next morning he found Jagger dead, and then stabbed her body and severed her right foot with a knife, he stated.
The trial has been postponed to 19 April for a social worker’s report on the accused to be provided to the court.
The teenager, who is being represented by legal aid lawyer Linus Samaria, is being held in custody.
Deputy prosecutor general Anita Meyer is representing the state.
