WINDHOEK: The long-running murder trial of Marcus Thomas and Kevan Townsend came to a conclusion on Thursday when Windhoek High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg sentenced the American duo to 29 and 30 years imprisonment respectively.
The two were found guilty on a count of murder and were each slapped with a 27-year imprisonment term, with additional counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, importing of firearms without a permit, possession of firearms without a permit, possession of a firearm without a licence and possession of ammunition, as well as attempting to defeat the course of justice, all amassing a sentence of almost six years.
Judge Liebenberg, during the sentencing, noted that Thomas, 39, was found guilty on a count of importing firearms without a permit and fined N.dollars 4 000 or one-year imprisonment and guilty on a count of attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice, for which the penalty is one-year imprisonment. His co-accused, 37-year-old Townsend, was found guilty on a count of possession of firearms without a permit, which carries a penalty of N.dollars 1 000 or six months’ imprisonment.
Furthermore, Liebenberg ordered that two years of the sentence imposed on count two, be served concurrently with the sentence imposed on the first count.
Additionally, Liebenberg noted that in terms of section 10(6) of Act 7 of 1996, the pair is declared unfit to possess a firearm for a period of five years. This order takes effect upon the date of release of an accused after serving his sentence, he noted.
Thomas and Townsend jointly planned to murder Heckmair and acted with a common purpose when Heckmair was killed with a single gunshot to his head in a car in a quiet street in Klein Windhoek on 07 January 2011.
The deceased was murdered five months before he could complete his studies in Switzerland.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency