A gym instructor admitted in the Windhoek High Court on Friday that he murdered his girlfriend after breaking into her flat in April 2024.
Tjizake Murangi (25), who was a gym instructor before his arrest, admitted guilt on nine criminal charges, including a count of housebreaking with the intention to murder and murder, during an appearance before judge Claudia Claasen.
Murangi admitted that he murdered bank employee Frieda Amadhila (29), who was his former girlfriend, after breaking into her flat in Windhoek during the night of 7 to 8 April 2024.
He also admitted he had previously assaulted Amadhila in January 2024 by pushing her against a wall and slapping her, that he defrauded her and her sister in a land transaction in January 2024, and that he had also stolen four head of cattle from Amadhila and her sister.
The state is alleging that Amadhila was stabbed and cut with a knife at least 15 times during the attack that claimed her life.
In a plea statement signed by Murangi, he admitted that he broke into Amadhila’s flat by breaking a lock of a burglar door.
Murangi also said he entered the flat with the intention to murder Amadhila, and that he then unlawfully and intentionally killed her.
The state is alleging that Murangi was in a dilemma after he had defrauded Amadhila and her sister with the sale of a piece of communal land in the Omaheke region, and after he had sold two head of cattle belonging to Amadhila and her sister and stolen the money he had received for the livestock.
The dilemma arose when Amadhila ended their relationship after he had assaulted her in January 2024, and demanded that he should sell the piece of land he had purportedly sold to her and cattle that she and her sister had bought and pay the proceeds back to her, the state is alleging.
In his plea statement, Murangi admitted that he defrauded Amadhila and her sister in January 2024 by pretending to them that he had bought a piece of land in the Omaheke region and that he could sell the land to them.
Amadhila and her sister paid him N$70 000 for the piece of land, which was in a communal area and could not be bought or sold by any individual, Murangi admitted.
He also admitted that he forged a sworn statement in connection with the land deal by forging the handwriting and signature of a police constable and placing an official Namibian Police stamp on the statement, and that he also forged a supposed “land handover agreement” in connection with the sale of the land in question.
Murangi further admitted that he stole two head of cattle belonging to Amadhila and her sister during the period of March to April 2024, and again stole two head of cattle from them in October 2024.
The cattle had a combined value of N$25 000.
“I have thus tendered this guilty plea as a token of my remorse,” Murangi stated.
“My actions caused me a great deal of embarrassment,” he stated as well. “I fully admit that it was unbecoming for me to have handled myself in the manner and fashion I did and I feel remorse for my action.”
He asked the court “to employ its full discretion of mercy” when sentencing him.
Murangi, who is being represented by defence lawyer Mbanga Siyomunji, has been held in custody since his arrest in April 2024.
He has to appear in court again for a presentence hearing on 28 October.
State advocate Ian Malumani is representing the prosecution.
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