Helena Johannes
A Walvis Bay resident, Azaan Madisia (28) made her first court appearance in the Walvis Bay magistrate court on charges of murder and obstruction of court of law in connection with Shannon Wasserfall’s disappearance.
The suspect was denied bail and the case postponed to 07 December 2020 for further investigations.
Her arrest and arraignment before the courts is the first major breakthrough in the case since the disappearance of Wasserfall more than six months ago.
Chief Inspector Sam Shilemba told the Windhoek Observer that Madisia is the only suspect that has been arrested in connection with Wasserfall’s disappearance. He is tight-lipped on whether the suspect had admitted to murder.
“I cannot confirm if she has admitted to the crime as that information can only be revealed by the court,” he said.
Shilemba said the police cannot confirm the relationship which Shannon and the suspect had. “We are not yet sure of her relationship with Shannon as investigations in the matter continues,” he said.
After arresting the suspect, Nampol Head of Criminal Investigations, Commissioner Moritz !Naruseb on Thursday said senior detectives from Windhoek and Walvis Bay are leading the investigations in the case.
Madisia was arrested on Thursday 08 October, just two days after an anonymous SMS was sent with information about a site where decomposing human remains, which are believed to be that of Shannon, were found.
Wasserfall is believed to have travelled to Walvis Bay to visit her mother in December 2019 and remained there. Then, she disappeared from her home in the Kuisebmond area of the coastal town after dropping off her two-year-old son at a friend’s house before she was supposedly to meet ‘someone’ on 10 April this year. She was not been seen or heard from since.
In addition to the shocking discovery of human remains by the Namibian police after a long search for Shannon by both Nampol and the Public, a huge number of protesters took to the streets of Windhoek and Walvis Bay on Thursday and Friday demanding for justice to be served in Shannon’s case and for President Geingob to declare a state of emergency to fight gender based violence (GBV) against women.
