Man gets 23 years for killing mother Hacked her to death Siegfried Uirab will languish in jail for 23 years after being found guilty of hacking his mother to death. A man who was earlier this month found guilty of hacking his biological mother to death with an axe at the Otjimbingwe settlement three years ago, was yesterday sent to jail for 23 years.High Court Judge, Christie Liebenberg handed down the sentence.
Siegfried Uirab was on 5 October 2016 found responsible for causing the death of his 64-year-old mother Erika Uiras when he hit her with an axe at the settlement located south-east of Karibib in the Erongo Region on 21 November 2013.
She was hit five times on the back of her head with the axe. The pensioner died of head injuries while receiving treatment in a Windhoek hospital two days after the attack.
On this count, Uirab was sentenced to 23 years imprisonment.
The 26-year-old Uirab was further found guilty on two counts of assault with the intention to cause grievous bodily harm and assault by threat after he attacked his sister, Ruth Uiras, by hitting her on the head with the same axe and for chasing another relative, Lizette Uiras, with the same weapon on the day of the incident.
On the two counts, Uirab was sent to jail for two years and six months.
The sentences imposed on the last two counts were ordered to run concurrently with the punishment imposed on the murder count.
In the end, the matricide convict was sent to jail for an effective 23 years. The judge said Uirab was irrational and out of actual character as he abused alcohol and cannabis.
“The attack on the victim was unprovoked and very vicious and it is really shocking for a parent to die at the hands of your own child.”
He said the killing of innocent people in the country should be discouraged at all costs through appropriate sentences by courts.
“The taking of another person''s life cannot go unpunished and the interests of society demand that punishment for murder cases should not be lenient.”
State Advocate, Felistas Sikerete-Vendura asked for 40 years in the count of murder, while Uirab''s defence lawyer Titus Ipumbu appealed for mercy and a lenient punishment of 18 years in respect this count.
Uirab maintained during trial that he was possessed by “strange unknown spirits” that forced him to commit the crime and could thus not be held criminally responsible for the death of his mother.
He said he was suffering from substance-induced psychosis as he abused alcohol and cannabis prior to and at the time of the incident.
In addition, the axe used in the killing incident was forfeited to the State.
NAMPA