Girlfriend strangler gets 45 yearsA man who was convicted of strangling to death his girlfriend has been sentenced to 45 years in prison.
Groot Aub resident Gregory Kangandjera, 36, was further sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for defeating the course of justice and a one-year prison term for assault.
The sentences were ordered to run concurrently with the 45-year prison term.
Judge Nate Ndauendapo said during sentencing in the High Court that Kangandjera pretended that his deceased girlfriend Loretta Kruger had committed suicide and thereby attempted to escape justice.
He was found guilty of murder with direct intent for strangling her to death on 13 November 2010.
The autopsy report showed that Kruger had died as a result of strangulation and had eight broken ribs and blood on the brain and kidneys.
Kruger was five months pregnant at the time of her death and she left behind five children.
According to the judge, the crimes were well planned and calculated. After assaulting her Kangandjera staged a fake suicide.
“His actions are clearly callous and evil,” said the judge. Ndauendapo said Kruger was so badly assaulted that she could not walk and had to be carried. According to him, evidence was presented that Kangandjera said: “I will kill someone, go to prison and come out.”
“To prison you will go but you will not come out so soon and when you come out you will be a rehabilitated person,” the judge said.
He said Kangandjera maintained innocence throughout the trial and showed no remorse.
“During cross-examination the accused shed tears but they were just crocodile tears,” the judge remarked and added that Kangandjera had not even apologised to Kruger’s family.
He stressed that domestic violence should be regarded as an aggravating factor by Namibian courts.
Kangandjera was also convicted of assault for slapping Ipuleni Natangwe on 13 November 2010.
He was further found guilty of defeating or obstructing the course of justice by tying a rope around Kruger’s neck and a tree branch and informing the police that she had committed suicide.
FRED GOEIEMAN