Oral submissions in the murder trial of a German couple that was brutally murdered by their former farm worker has been set for April 8th.
The submissions that were to be made last week were rescheduled by Maun High Court judge, Godfrey Nthomiwa, in agreement with all the concerned parties.
The case dates back to December 2016 and involves 32-year-old Sam Thindimba, a Maun resident who allegedly killed Ulrich Oehl and his wife Gisela Heike Oehl, both aged 52, of Dambo farm.
Thindimba has since confessed to the murder, although he said it was not intentional.
“When I went there, my intention was not to kill, but to steal from them,” Thindimba has since told court at the first trial last month.
He further told the court that the couple owed him money for a farm work he previously did for them but refused to pay him despite their promise to do so.
He further told court that he met the couple at least two times in Maun and demanded his payment.
He said he ran into Gisela in one of the local supermarkets in Maun and she promised that they would pay him “soon.”
The second time, he said he found the couple at a local filling station and when he demanded his money, they allegedly told him that he was ill mannered and drove off.
“I was broke and frustrated so I decided to go and steal from them,” explained Thindimba.
He said he however arrived late at their farm, hungry and tired and decided to open a can of beef, ate it and helped himself to some strong alcoholic drinks.
Further building his defence, Thindimba explained that since he was not used to “modern and strong” drinks, but rather the “cheap traditional brews,” he got too intoxicated and whatever he did that night meant he acted under the influence of alcohol.
However he said after drinking he headed to the storeroom to pick tools which he had planned to use in the execution of the theft, “I took the slasher and the pick-axe from the storeroom and I used the slasher to open the window.”
Thindimba had further told the court that after jumping into a bachelor pad, which he thought was an office, he got the shock of his life when he switched on the lights to only to realise that he landed right in the couple’s bedroom where they were sleeping naked.
He said he thought the first thing the husband would do was grab his gun, he then launched a blow with a pick axe and when the wife tried to move he said he equally slashed her on the neck with the same weapon.
“I panicked and I was scared so I grabbed anything I could get my hands on and fled,” Thindimba further told the court.
He is said to have made away with some cash, two mobilephone sets, a white landcruiser , two rifles, laptop and several farm equipment including water pumps and water tanks, among others.
Since for one to reach Maun from the farm has to go through Makalamabedi veterinary gate, which is always manned by police, Thindimba said he had to abandon the vehicle and its load just before reaching the gate so he could pass without any hindrance.
However Thindimba is said to have called his ex girlfriend’s sister with one of the stolen phones and the police tracked him through the call.
Further Thindimba is said to have gotten drunk in Maun and pulled out one of the stolen guns during a drunkard brawl over a girl and some of the pounds allegedly got stolen by one of his friends and went to exchange them at a local exchange bureau.
In total P2000 cash and 2 168 pounds was found in possession of the said friend, Mukenge Mukenge.
This according to the police helped investigators pin Thindimba to the murder crime and within a week of the incidence, he was arrested.
