With parts of the various sentences ordered to run concurrently, Joseph Gerson Gariseb (25) has been sentenced to an effective 45 years' imprisonment.

Judge Kato van Niekerk sentenced Gariseb's uncle, Esegiel Gariseb (44), to an effective 42 years behind bars.

The two men were convicted on three charges of housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery with aggravating circumstances, and further counts of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances on Monday last week.

All the charges relate to events that took place at a smallholding at the village of Oamites between Windhoek and Rehoboth on the evening of May 12 2002 and into the early morning hours of May 13.

The events took place at the home of 65-year-old Uwe Kopetzky, a trained geologist who had a shop at Oamites.

In his day, Kopetzky had also been a well-known, but reportedly severely self-critical, artist in Namibia.

On the evening of May 12 2002, Kopetzky fell victim to an attack by the two Garisebs.

According to testimony heard during the trial - most of this came from the suspects' own mouths - Kopetzky must have died a drawn-out, agonising death, as his two attackers took their time subjecting him to prolonged, repeated assaults until he eventually died.

That happened after they had cut him with a knife, beat him severely with a variety of objects, stabbed him with a barbecue fork, and eventually burned him by setting a piece of carton on fire on top of his chest where he lay defenceless - battered and bloodied and tied to a bed - on the floor of his bedroom.

The duo broke into Kopetzky's house, a flat next to the house, and also the shop that Kopetzky had at Oamites, and made off with loot that they stole from Kopetzky's property.

Having left behind not only fingerprints but also other evidence pointing the Police in their direction, the duo was arrested at the farm Kransneus near Oamites on May 13 2002.

The younger Gariseb played a major role in the crimes, Judge Van Niekerk found in her verdict last week.

However, although the plan to commit the crimes came from him, his uncle participated equally in the crimes and both of them committed acts of extreme cruelty, the Judge commented yesterday.

"You committed the crimes in an extremely violent manner.

The deceased was treated in a shockingly cruel and brutal way," she told the two killers.

"The fact that you did these utterly repulsive, brutal and cruel deeds to an elderly person who did you no harm, is most aggravating," she added.

Noting that Kopetzky's house had been turned upside down and was left in a shambles after the two men had ransacked the dwelling in a search for money, safe keys and other valuables, Judge Van Niekerk remarked: "You rode roughshod over the sanctity of the deceased's house, his possessions and, most of all, his life, in a manner that showed utter disrespect."

The nature of their crimes was such that the seriousness of the offences that they committed and the interests of society had to take precedence over their personal interests, Judge Van Niekerk said.

Society "is crying out for protection against criminals like you", she told them.

"The farming community and especially the elderly living in rural areas are often the targets of unconscionable and violent attacks," she continued, stating that people in that sort of situation were entitled to protection.

Judge Van Niekerk sentenced both men to 40 years' imprisonment each on the murder charge.

On the charge of housebreaking with intent to steal and robbery with aggravating circumstances relating to the break-in into Kopetzky's house, she sentenced the younger Kopetzky to 16 years' imprisonment, of which 11 years were ordered to run concurrently with the jail term on the murder charge.

On that housebreaking charge, the elder Gariseb received a 12-year prison term, of which 10 years were ordered to run concurrently with his 40-year term on the murder charge.

The younger Gariseb was sentenced to a further total of 25 years' imprisonment on the other two housebreaking charges and a last robbery charge, while his uncle received a total of 19 years' imprisonment on those counts, but all of these sentences were ordered to be served concurrently with the 40-year terms for the murder charge.

Deputy Prosecutor General Antonia Verhoef prosecuted.

Joseph Gariseb was represented by Unanisa Hengari, and Werner Boesak appeared for Esegiel Gariseb.

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