Wife killer gets 38 years The Oshakati High Court has sentenced a man convicted of killing his wife to 38 years imprisonment.Johannes Shipanga, 59, shot his wife Justina Shipanga twice in the head and burned her body beyond recognition in her new Toyota Hilux bakkie at Onalulago in the Oshana Region on 17 June last year. She was 51 years old.
Shipanga later handed himself over to the police and confessed to the murder.
Two weeks ago, Shipanga told the court during cross-examination that while seated in the car he asked his wife when she would return home.
Her response angered him, leading to the killing, the court heard.
When sentencing Shipanga, Judge Marlene Tommasi said women and children deserve to feel safe and protected at all times.
Tommasi said although Shipanga was a first-time offender, he committed a serious crime with no mercy.
Shipanga was sentenced to 35 years for the murder and three years for obstructing the course of justice, which will run concurrently with the main sentence.
Shipanga''s lawyer had asked for an 18-year jail term, while the State wanted a harsher sentence of 40 to 45 years in prison.
Tommassi said Shipanga denied the deceased the chance the right to life, the right to help her family, the right to have a full life and the right to old age.
Tommassi further said the manner in which Shipanga killed his wife indicated that he had no mercy. “The accused ripped the deceased from her loved ones,” she said.
However, Tommasi said the court will not turn a blind eye on the fact that Shipanga showed remorse after he handed himself over to the police and pleaded guilty.
Family members of the late Justina yesterday welcomed the sentencing. “If he did not burn her body, it would have been something else, and the car which he burnt her in was even a brand new Toyota VVTI,” one of the deceased''s siblings said.
The couple had four children together.