Matricide Suspect Was ‘Delusional’

Werner Menges

12 May 2011

Matricide suspect Natangwe Ipinge Ngatjizeko was mentally ill when he killed his mother in a vicious knife attack in her home near the end of 2006, a State psychiatrist testified in the High Court in Windhoek this week.

State psychiatrist Dr Ndahambelela Mthoko told Judge Nate Ndauendapo that Ngatjizeko believed his mother was a witch and that she was bewitching him, and he was driven by these delusions when he stabbed her to death.

His mental condition was caused by drug abuse, Dr Mthoko said.

Ngatjizeko (31) is accused of murdering his mother, former State House aide Phenny Ipinge (58), in her house in Katutura on December 17 2006. He is also accused of robbing her by stealing N$20 from her after he had killed her and poured boiling water over her.

Ipinge, who was found lying in a pool of blood on the floor of the lounge of her house, was stabbed 39 times, Judge Ndauendapo has been told so far during the trial.

Ngatjizeko pleaded not guilty to counts of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances at the start of his trial in early June last year. In a plea explanation, he claimed he was suffering from a mental defect, caused by years of substance abuse, at the time of the killing. “I believe that I was psychotic when I committed the alleged offences I stand accused of,” Ngatjizeko stated.

He denied that he ever took a wilful or conscious decision to injure or kill his mother.

Judge Ndauendapo ordered last year that Ngatjizeko should undergo a period of psychiatric observation. Dr Mthoko signed the psychiatric report that was compiled at the end of that observation period.

She told the court on Monday that it was found that Ngatjizeko was psychotic at the time of the killing. Although he was mentally ill at that time, that is no longer the case and he is fit to stand trial, she said.

Dr Mthoko added that, as a result of his drug use – Ngatjizeko told her that he had been using dagga, Mandrax and alcohol – he was delusional at the time. His delusions included a belief that his mother was a witch and that she was bewitching him, Dr Mthoko testified.

“He acted according to the delusions which he had,” she testified.

Defence lawyer Jan Wessels asked Dr Mthoko: “So his actions were driven by the delusions?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“At the time of the commission of the crime he was mentally sick, yes.”

Dr Mthoko added: “He knew that what he’s doing is wrong. He knew that. Only that the delusions were making him do that.”

In her report to the court, Dr Mthoko stated: “At the time of commission of the alleged crime, the accused did suffer from a mental disorder as supported by history of using psychoactive substances. Although he understood the nature of what he was doing, his intention was the consequence of a delusion, and therefore his ability to appreciate the wrongfulness of the alleged offence and act in accordance with such appreciation was diminished.”

She also stated in her report: “In 2004, he developed disturbances of his thought. The thought disturbances included: belief that his mother could read his thought, felt controlled by a certain force, and delusions of persecution by mother.”

Dr Mthoko’s findings correspond with findings reached by a former colleague, psychiatrist Dr Reuben Japhet, who also concluded that Ngatjizeko was psychotic at the time of the killing.

The trial is continuing. The court is now conducting a trial within a trial to determine if a statement that Ngatjizeko made to a Police officer on December 20 2006 should become part of the evidence in the trial. Wessels has raised an objection, claiming that when Ngatjizeko made the statement he was mentally ill, in hospital where he was under medication, and going through drug withdrawal symptoms.

State advocate Constance Moyo is prosecuting.

Ngatjizeko has remained in custody since his arrest a day after the killing.

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