Murder in Vineta

Four people were arrested within eighteen hours after the murder on Wednesday morning of 79-year old Rosvietha Sieglinde Strzelecki in her home in Swakopmund’s Vineta suburb.

Two men entered the house at around 08:30 on Tuesday at 33 Richthofen Street and attacked Strzelecki and her husband, Siegfried Paul Strzelecki (81). The couple was severely assaulted and tied up. The death of Strzelecki is directly linked to the injuries she sustained during the attack. The method of violence allegedly included strangulation.
The Strzelecki-couple and their family are well known coastal residents and lived in Walvis Bay for some time when their house in Swakopmund was renovated. Their children own the Prima Schlachterei in Swakopmund.
The spokesperson for the Namibian Police in Erongo, Deputy Commissioner Erastus Iikuyu confirmed that the two suspects entered the house, presumably using a duplicate key. The suspects then entered the room where the deceased was at the time and allegedly grabbed her by the throat and hit her head against a wall.
The deceased’s husband was in another part of the house and was alerted by a noise. He went to investigate and encountered one of the attackers whom he immediately recognised as a person who conducted renovations at the couple’s home earlier. The second suspect wore a mask.
The masked attacker demanded cash from Strzelecki, only meters from where his wife was fighting for her life in a gravely injured state or might have already died.
The suspects then tried to open the safe with a key which the couple missed for some time. They had changed the safe’s lock in the meantime.
When they could not manage to open the safe, the attackers returned their attention to Strzelecki and assaulted him and tied him up. They left the key in the safe, went to the sitting room where they took one Huawei cell phone valued N$8000, the remote control of the house’s alarm system, a pair of sandals of the deceased and cash of N$1000, explained Iikuyu.
Strzelecki manage to loosen himself from the ropes and ran out of the house where a neighbour spotted him. Strzelecki was bleeding and was also seriously injured.
The police arrived within minutes. Mrs. Strzelecki was found in the room where she was attacked. Paramedics confirmed she has died
Strzelecki was taken to the Cottage Hospital where he was treated for his injuries. He is in a stable condition.
Mrs. Strzelecki’s body was taken to the Walvis police mortuary for post-mortem examination which would be used as evidence in the murder trial.
It did not take long for the police to figure out the identity of the man who previously conducted renovations at the Strzelecki home. With a name, an arrest soon followed. He had the items stolen during the attack still in his possession. Hours later the police arrested two more suspects they believe in some way assisted the Strzelecki-attackers.
The fourth suspect’s mask seemingly helped him little in trying to conceal his identity. He was arrested at 03:00 in Swakopmund’s DRC area.
All four suspects’ names are known to the media, but cannot be published until their first court appearance.