Double murder accused pleads not guilty
THE man, accused of murdering two senior executives at the Namibian Institute of Mining and Technology (NIMT) in Arandis during 2019, denied all charges against him when he entered a not guilty plea yesterday in the Windhoek High Court.
Ernst Lichtenstrasser (59) did not provide a plea explanation and his legal aid lawyer Albert Titus confirmed the pleas and told the court his client will make use of his constitutionally guaranteed right to remain silent and put the onus on the State to prove each and every allegation against him.
Lichtenstrasser is facing two counts of murder, two counts of possessing a firearm without a licence, and further charges of possessing ammunition without a licence, defeating or obstructing the course of justice, theft and the unauthorised supply of a firearm and ammunition.
The prosecution alleges Lichtenstrasser, a former lecturer at the Tsumeb campus of NIMT, shot and murdered Eckhardt Mueller and Heinz Heimo Hellwig, who were the executive director and deputy director of NIMT, respectively, at Arandis in April 2019.
Mueller and Hellwig were murdered when they were gunned down at the entrance of the NIMT offices at the Erongo mining town.
It is alleged that before the tragic shooting, Lichtenstrasser was employed at the Tsumeb campus of the institution for a couple of years, which was close to his residence at Otavi, and was unhappy about a decision to transfer him to the Keetmanshoop campus.
However, it is stated, the two victims were steadfast in their decision about the transfer despite his remonstrations.
The indictment further reads that Lichtenstrasser and his son went target practising on Saturday 13 April 2019 at a friend’s farm with an unlicensed and illegal 9mm pistol and ammunition.
It is further stated that the next day, he drove to Arandism, where he overnighted in the desert.
During the early morning hours of 15 April 2019, he waited for the arrival of the two victims at the entrance to the NIMT premises at Arandis, as it was their habit to drive together to the campus.
Upon their arrival, he allegedly fired shots at them with the illegal 9mm pistol.
The two executives died at the scene due to injuries sustained by the gunshots.
It is further alleged by the State that Lichtenstrasser then fled the scene and drove into the desert, where he disassembled the pistol and buried it together with a holster and 18 live bullets in the ground in an attempt to frustrate the investigation of the murders and to hide or destroy evidence connected to the crimes.
It is further alleged that during 2016, he stole a firearm barrel from a gunsmith’s business premises in Grootfontein.
During the same year, he was also in unlawful possession of a shotgun and supplied one of his workers with the shotgun and ammunition without the required licence, authorisation or permit.
The State’s first witness, Sabine Hellwig, the widow of Heinz, the second victim, testified yesterday that on the morning of the murders, her husband was picked up by Mueller as usual at around 06h00.
She further said she went to the campus in a NIMT bus – and when she arrived, she saw the whole place was cordoned off.
Upon enquiry as to what was going on, she was told two people were shot and one of them was her husband.
The trial is continuing before Judge Christie Liebenberg, with the State represented by deputy prosecutor general Antonia Verhoef.
Lichtenstrasser remains in police custody at the section for trial awaiting inmates at the Windhoek Correctional Facility.