THE theft of a safe key set in motion a fatal chain of events that led to an attack on an elderly couple at Swakopmund five years ago – and the conviction of two men on a charge of murder and other counts in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.
Testimony heard during the trial of Simon Jerobeam and Fabian Lazarus directly linked Lazarus to a safe key that was stolen from Roswitha and Siegfried Strzelecki when they moved from Walvis Bay, where they had been residing, to a new home at Swakopmund, judge Christie Liebenberg recounted in the judgement he delivered in the two men’s trial.
During the trial, the court also heard testimony according to which Lazarus tried to get hold of a remote control device that would give access to the couple’s home, where he planned to steal money from a safe, Liebenberg noted.
He said evidence before the court showed a direct link between Lazarus, Jerobeam and a third man, Daniel Nghilifa Stefanus, with the planning of a robbery at the couple’s house.
The robbery was carried out on the morning of 2 August 2017, when Roswitha and Siegfried Strzelecki – aged 79 and 81, respectively – were attacked at their house.
Roswitha was tied up during the attack and killed when she was strangled.
Siegfried was left injured. He died eight days later, after he had suffered a stroke a few days after the attack.
Jerobeam (28), Lazarus (29) and Stefanus (31) were all arrested and charged following the incident. Stefanus, however, escaped out of police custody at Swakopmund early in 2019. He has been on the run since then.
In his judgement yesterday, Liebenberg concluded that Siegfried’s death could not be linked to the assault carried out on him during the robbery eight days before his death.
As a result, Jerobeam and Lazarus were found not guilty on a count of murder in connection with his death.
Both men were, however, found guilty of assaulting Siegfried.
Liebenberg convicted both men on a charge of murder in connection with Roswitha’s death, and also found them guilty on counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, conspiring to commit robbery and defeating or obstructing the course of justice.
Lazarus alone was convicted of the theft of the Strzeleckis’ safe key as well.
Jerobeam did not testify in his own defence during the trial.
However, in a plea statement he admitted he had been present at the scene when the Strzeleckis were attacked and that he had stolen a camera lens from the couple’s house.
In a statement made to a police officer after his arrest, Jerobeam also recounted that he had helped Stefanus overpower Roswitha and saw Stefanus strangling her.
From his statement, it was evident that Jerobeam was not an innocent bystander, but had been actively involved in the attack on Roswitha and did not intervene to stop Stefanus while he was strangling her, Liebenberg remarked.
He said it would be naive to think the common purpose that Jerobeam, Lazarus and Stefanus had was merely to rob the couple.
Each of them must have foreseen that they were likely to meet resistance which they knew they had to overcome, and given the couple’s age and vulnerability they equally must have foreseen that their actions would result in death, Liebenberg said.
Having been convicted, Jerobeam and Lazarus are scheduled to return to court for a presentence hearing on 1 November.
State advocate Tangeni Iitula is prosecuting.
Defence lawyers Tjingairi Kaurivi and Milton Engelbrecht are representing Jerobeam and Lazarus, respectively.
