NIMT double murder accused secures legal aid assistance
A Namibia Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT) Tsumeb campus employee on trial in the High Court for the alleged murder of the institution’s two top managers last year has secured government-funded legal assistance.
Ernst Josef Lichtenstrasser (58) made another appearance before High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg during a pretrial conference of case management review Tuesday morning when his privately- instructed defence Trevor Brockerhoff informed the court that the Directorate of Legal Aid has approved his client’s application for legal assistance.
However, according to Brockerhoff, Lichtenstrasser is now required to make a financial contribution of N$350 for his application for legal aid to be finally processed.
The matter was0 thereafter postponed to 23 November 2020 for another pretrial conference hearing and to allow the prosecution enough time to sort out some outstanding matters with the defence team.
Tuesday’s postponement was agreed upon through an agreement reached by Brockerhoff and deputy prosecutor general Antonia Verhoef in court.
Lichtenstrasser was initially arrested in connection with the illegal possession of firearm ammunition without a licence in the Karibib area a few days after the murders of NIMT Executive Director Eckhart Mueller and his deputy Heimo Hellwig. He was taken in for questioning and later arrested for illegal possession of ammunition.
It was during questioning that police became more suspicious of Lichtenstrasser. Mueller and Hellwig were allegedly shot at close range when they arrived at the institute’s Arandis campus between 06h00 and 06h30 on 15 April 2019.
Their bodies were found by a hostel matron who heard the gunshots and rushed to the institution’s entrance.
Lichtenstrasser remains in police custody at the Windhoek Correctional Facility with no option to post bail until his next court appearance on 23 November 2020. - Nampa