A Crime Scene Investigator’s testimony at the ongoing inquest on BDF shootings has put a dent on Namibians narrative that the four suspected poachers were kidnapped, assaulted and later shot.
Giving evidence before Regional Magistrate Taboka Mopipi on Monday afternoon, Michael Josiah said the crime scene was 2km south of the Sedudu BDF Camp.
He said in his photographic and physical evidence, the two canoes used by the slain suspected poachers had bullet holes and metal fragments.
Josiah who is the Commander of Crime Scene Investigators in the No. 7 District told court that the crime scene was on the Botswana side, on the southern channel of the Chobe river.
Namibians, led by Namibians Lives Matter movement believe that Botswana soldiers kidnapped the four deceased in Namibia, tortured them before shooting them at close range.
However, the Crime Scene Investigator told court that the evidence he has collected shows otherwise.
“There were defects on the canoes which are consistent with gunfire, and there were also blood traces on both canoes,” he said.
Asked to explain why one body was found lying on the ground, Josiah said it is possible that the suspect was trying to flee.
“This could have happened before or after being shot,” Josiah told Court.
He further told court that some of the physical evidence recovered from the crime scene included long nose pliers, three cellphones, Namibian and Zambian currency, clothes and tying ropes.
“There was no sign of a fishing net or fishing rods,” he told court.
