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23-505: In 2007, a German-born Namibian was accused of rape, arrested and later linked to these unsolved murders. However, he was, after a long period of imprisonment, acquitted due to a lack of evidence. In 2008 a man who committed suicide was implicated as the series of murders ended in 2007, but the connection could not be conclusively proven. The B1 Butcher got its name from the Namibian media, due to victims' remains being found in close proximity to

46-497: A debate on Namibia's stance on the death penalty . Stoffels, a 17-year-old schoolgirl , was found in a riverbed near Dawid Bezuidenhout High School after having been raped and murdered . Later that same day, a police officer found a man named Junias Fillipus (32), washing clothes in the same riverbed. The distance was approximately 300 to 500 metres from where Stoffels' body was found. After observing what he believed to be scratch marks on his knees and back and blood stains on

69-616: A gravel road. In 2007 the B1 lent its name to the B1 Butcher , a serial killer who professionally dismembered his victims and deposited body parts of at least five women near the road. The murderer has never been identified. Murder of Magdalena Stoffels The murder of Magdalena Stoffels occurred in Windhoek , Namibia on July 27, 2010. The perpetrator was never found. Raping and murdering this 17-year-old school girl caused demonstrations and

92-468: A mountainous region and emerges in the southern suburbs of Namibia's capital city Windhoek near Eros Airport . Most of the 74-kilometre (46 mi) section between Windhoek and Okahandja has been upgraded to freeway standard (beginning with a western bypass of Windhoek built in the 1970s), and since April 2017, the freeway sections have been redesignated by the Roads Authority Namibia as

115-444: A northerly path and heads to Oshikango . At Oshikango, the route crosses the border into Angola and becomes the EN 120 . The northern stretch of the road from Tsumeb to Ondangwa via Namutoni was built in 1957–58. Ca. a decade later it was paved, but now it went through Oshivelo , and the paved section went from Ondangwa to Oshakati . The stretch from Ondangwa to Oshikango was still

138-685: The B3 from Karasburg (and Upington from continuing on South Africa's N10 national route) and the Nakop-Windhoek railway line . From there, it continues north to the city of Keetmanshoop ; on the southern outskirts, it intersects by means of a traffic circle with the B4 to Lüderitz . From Keetmanshoop, the route continues north along the western fringes of the Kalahari Desert , passing through Mariental , Kalkrand and Rehoboth . The route then passes through

161-674: The Namibian government due to the ordeal of having been accused of being the B1 Butcher. In 2008 Hans Husselmann from Rehoboth took his life after being implicated in the murders. He had served a life sentence for two murders before, and was only released in 2004. Although ǁGaroës' DNA was found in Husselmann's flat and Husselmann's DNA was found on a letter to the Police concerning the Mabula murder, evidence

184-641: The Trans-Kalahari Corridor . Important cities that the B1 passes through in a north–south direction include Oshikango , Ondangwa , Tsumeb , Otavi , Otjiwarongo , Okahandja , Windhoek , Rehoboth , Mariental , Keetmanshoop and Noordoewer . The B1 begins on the South African border at a bridge over the Orange River near the town of Noordoewer , as a continuation of South Africa's N7 national route. It heads north to Grünau , where it meets

207-577: The 1970s and continuing to 2022, with the freeway sections now carrying the designation of A1 . The entirety of the B1, together with the former section of B1 now designated A1, forms part of the Tripoli-Cape Town Highway . The section between Okahandja and Otavi is part of the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Road , and the former section of B1 now designated A1 from Okahandja to Windhoek forms part of

230-558: The A1. Remaining sections of the B1 just south of Okahandja are expected to be upgraded to freeway standard by 2022. At Okahandja, it meets the B2 , which connects to Walvis Bay . From Okahandja , the B1 resumes and heads north for approximately 175 kilometres (109 mi) to Otjiwarongo ; this section is considered one of the deadliest roads in Namibia with a high crash fatality rate. From Otjiwarongo,

253-674: The B1 Butcher. The head and an arm of the most recent victim were found in August 2007, further north on the B1 between Windhoek, Okahandja . Further body parts of the same victim were discovered in September 2007 near Grootfontein in the Otjozondjupa Region . This woman has never been identified. Police took this sequence of events as a clue that the murderer might have moved from Windhoek further northwards. In October 2007, investigations were helped by three senior serial murder detectives from

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276-665: The B1 heads in a more north-easterly direction to avoid the Etosha National Park , passing through Otavi (where the B8 provides a route to the Caprivi Strip and the border with Zambia ) before reaching Tsumeb . At Tsumeb, the route makes a hard turn to the north-west at the intersection with the B15 and skirts the Etosha Pan to reach Oshivelo and thence Ondangwa , from where it resumes

299-615: The Magistrates' Court in Katutura to protest her rape and murder and to deliver a petition to the Deputy Prosecutor General, Johnny Truter, which pointed out the high rate of violent crime on Namibian children. The Southern Times reported that the murder of Stoffels "ignited debate on the reinstatement of the death penalty " in Namibia. Evaluation of forensic evidence lasted almost a year. The results did not link Fillipus with

322-836: The Namibian National Road B1 , which crosses the country from north to south. The "butcher" part of the name stems from the professional way in which the bodies were dismembered. The B1 Butcher was also referred to as the "Khomas Ripper", due to the region where the remains of the victims were found. Body parts were found in June and July 2007 in the Khomas Region along the B1 in the greater Windhoek area between Rehoboth and Okahandja . These body parts were wrapped in garbage bags and belonged to two different women. As far back as 2005 two similar unexplained murders of women occurred, those two murders have subsequently also been attributed to

345-489: The Republic of South Africa . It is believed this series of murders will never be solved. All five of the B1 Butcher victims were young or middle-aged women. Two of the five women killed (both found in 2007) could not be identified. The other three women are Juanita Mabula (21 years, murdered in 2005), Melanie Janse (22 years, 2005) and Sanna Helena ǁGaroës (36 years, 2007). All murdered women were Namibians of color , each of

368-447: The clothes, the police officer arrested Fillipus in connection with the attack. The crime was described by The Namibian as among "most prominent cases of violence against women and children recorded in [Namibia] in 2010". The Windhoek Observer noted that "Fillipus’ arrest sparked a public outcry against gender-based violence ". Approximately 3,000 people, including schoolchildren from 10 schools, marched from Stoffels' school to

391-546: The crime, and the charges against him were withdrawn. In May 2011, he was released from custody. Fillipus sued the Namibian Police for unlawful arrest, unlawful detention, and malicious prosecution in 2013. In 2016 the first two charges were thrown out of the Windhoek High Court due to a one-year statute of limitations for such claims. The third claim is yet to be heard in court. Meanwhile, investigators fear that

414-454: The effectiveness and efficiency of the Namibian Police , as in other violent crime cases like the Murder of Magdalena Stoffels . B1 road (Namibia) The B1 is a national highway of Namibia , and is the country's longest and most significant road, running the length of the country from south to north. It connects Noordoewer in the south on the South African border with Oshikango in

437-489: The north on the Angolan border via Namibia's capital city Windhoek . The route exists in two discontinuous sections: a southern 802-kilometre (498 mi) section from Noordoewer to Windhoek , and a northern 665-kilometre (413 mi) section from Okahandja to Oshikango . The central 74-kilometre (46 mi) section between Windhoek and Okahandja, previously part of the B1, was upgraded to freeway standard beginning in

460-528: The police. In 2010, a human head and an arm were discovered on a farm in Rehoboth, raising fear that the Butcher might be active again. A connection to the murders of the B1 Butcher in this was, however, not considered likely because it did not show many of the previous similarities: The body parts were not found near a highway, and were burnt instead of frozen. The murder series caused considerable public criticism of

483-558: The three identified victims was fluent in Afrikaans , Damara , or both. In addition, all victims' body parts showed signs of freezing or refrigeration, suggesting that they were in some sort of cold storage . The method of killing, however, was different: Janse was strangled and Mabula was hit on the head with a blunt object. At least two of the three identified victims were prostitutes, working in Windhoek's downtown Ausspannplatz area. Two of

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506-492: The victims, Janse and ǁGaroes, apparently knew each other well. In August 2007, the German citizen Heinz Knierim was arrested because he was suspected of having raped a 29-year-old Namibian near Windhoek the previous month. He was also said to have tried to subsequently strangle the woman. Knierim denied all allegations. In February 2010, he was acquitted for lack of evidence and released from custody. Knierim sued for damages against

529-400: Was inconclusive. At that time, suspicions arose that the B1 Butcher might not be one single person but rather one "lead actor" and several copycats. In July 2007, women from Windhoek , Rehoboth and Tsumis Park published a joint open letter to the B1 Butcher to provide information on the still missing body parts for decent burial of the murder victims. They also told him to hand himself over to

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