A former security company employee accused of murdering and robbing a colleague 15 years ago claimed in the Windhoek High Court yesterday he is being prosecuted on false charges.

He has “no knowledge at all” of the crimes he is alleged to have committed, Teodor Shipanga (49), who is not represented by a defence lawyer, told judge Eileen Rakow while reading out a statement he had written.

Shipanga claimed no police docket for an investigation against him had been opened and there is no case in which he has been charged.

He also said the prosecutor general has charged him on three false counts, and that the charges against him had been “cancelled” by a judge in front of whom he made a pretrial appearance in the High Court.

“I do not have a case with the state at all, or with the Namibian Police,” Shipanga claimed.

He further said his trial is unlawful and unconstitutional, and that the prosecutor in the trial, state advocate Anna Amukugo, “must stop accusing me falsely, unlawfully and unconstitutionally” and should be removed from the matter.

Shipanga is standing trial on charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and defeating or obstructing the course of justice.

The state is alleging that he murdered a security company colleague, Shain van Wyk (22), on 11 November 2011 and also robbed Van Wyk by stealing about N$2.5 million and a cash-in-transit vehicle from him.

Van Wyk was killed when he was shot in the head with a shotgun while he and Shipanga were transporting cash from banks in northern Namibia to Windhoek, the state is alleging.

Van Wyk’s body was found hidden in a culvert under the B1 road between Okahandja and Otjiwarongo, after the cash-in-transit vehicle in which he and Shipanga had travelled from northern Namibia had been found abandoned and partly burnt at Katutura in Windhoek.

Source: https://www.namibian.com.na/murder-robbery-accused-claims-charges-are-false/