5-month break in massacre trial

THE High Court trial of the four men accused of the murder of eight people at the Mariental district farm Kareeboomvloer two years ago is scheduled to continue from the middle of September.

Judge President Petrus Damaseb yesterday postponed the trial to September 17. He told the four accused men – brothers Sylvester and Gavin Beukes, Justus Christiaan (‘Shorty’) Erasmus, and Stoney Neidel – that the matter has been set down on the High Court roll from that date up to the end of November, in an effort to ensure that the trial is finalised before the end of the year.The trial started on March 1 with all four men pleading not guilty to 15 charges that each of them faces.These include eight counts of murder, a charge of housebreaking with the intent to rob and robbery with aggravating circumstances, another count of robbery with aggravating circumstances, and charges of arson and defeating or obstructing the course of justice.While it is alleged that only two of the four – Sylvester and Gavin Beukes (25) – were at Kareeboomvloer when eight people were massacred there on March 4 to 5 2005, it is also alleged that all four accused “at all relevant times acted with a common purpose”.If the prosecution in the trial manages to prove this allegation, it would mean that all four accused men – and not just the Beukes brothers, who have admitted being present at the scene when the killings were carried out – could be convicted on the murder and other charges that they face in connection with the events that are alleged to have taken place at the farm.In the indictment, it is alleged that Erasmus (29) recruited Sylvester Beukes (22) to carry out a plan to kill Erasmus’s parents, Justus Christiaan (‘Rassie’) and Elzabé Erasmus, who were among the victims of the massacre.It is also alleged that a hoard of items stolen from the farm after the killings were subsequently stored at Neidel’s homes at Rehoboth and at a farm west of the town.The State is further alleging that that Neidel (30) and the two brothers had been conspiring since December 2004 that the loot that was to be obtained through the crimes that they were planning to commit at the farm would be hidden with Neidel.When the trial resumes in five months’ time, the Judge President will continue hearing testimony in a trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of evidence about statements that the Beukes brothers allegedly made to the Police in the time between their arrest on the evening of March 6 2005 and their first appearance in court on March 9 2005.The brothers’ defence counsel, Winnie Christians, has objected against testimony of those alleged statements being heard by Judge President Damaseb.He told the Judge President that the brothers had been beaten and intimidated by Police officers before the claimed statements were made.The former Police Chief Inspector who played a leading role in the investigation, Kobie Theron, continued testifying in the trial within a trial yesterday.”He did it freely and voluntarily, in a very relaxed and calm way,” he told the court about statements that he said Sylvester Beukes had made to him between the time of his arrest and his first appearance in the Mariental Magistrate’s Court.Christians told Theron that it was clear from a video recording made at the brothers’ house on the evening of March 6 2005 that Sylvester Beukes actually appeared to be nervous and ill at ease at that stage.Theron commented: “Coming from a scene where you murder eight people, according to my human knowledge no-one can be calm or normal.”Christians also told Theron that according to his instructions, the brothers told Theron from the beginning that they had been assaulted when they were arrested by the Police, but he did nothing about those claims.Theron answered that this was “a total lie” and that no such report had ever been made to him by the brothers.He acknowledged that he saw that Sylvester Beukes had an injury under his left eye and that this eye was swollen, but said he assumed – having seen at the scene of the killings that the Erasmus couple also had bruising under their eyes – that these injuries had been sustained at the farm.”No one was beaten in my presence,” Theron stated.He likewise flatly denied a claim – part of Christians’s instructions from his clients, the lawyer said – that he had slapped Sylvester Beukes.Theron is the 21st witness to testify in the trial.He will have to return to the witness stand to face cross-examination on the main part of his testimony when the trial resumes.Theron was already in his second day of giving evidence on Wednesday last week when admissions that Christians said Sylvester Beukes was making were placed on record.Part of these admissions was that Beukes was admitting that he had killed all eight people who died at Kareeboomvloer two years ago.The Beukes brothers remain in custody.Neidel remains free on bail, as does Erasmus, after Deputy Prosecutor General Antonia Verhoef decided yesterday not to continue with an enquiry to determine whether Erasmus had broken one of his bail conditions by allegedly failing to report to the Windhoek Police station as required on Monday evening.Erasmus’s defence counsel, Petrie Theron, has said that a burst tyre while his client was travelling from Henties Bay back to Windhoek on Monday prevented Erasmus from making it to the Police station on time.He told the four accused men – brothers Sylvester and Gavin Beukes, Justus Christiaan (‘Shorty’) Erasmus, and Stoney Neidel – that the matter has been set down on the High Court roll from that date up to the end of November, in an effort to ensure that the trial is finalised before the end of the year.The trial started on March 1 with all four men pleading not guilty to 15 charges that each of them faces.These include eight counts of murder, a charge of housebreaking with the intent to rob and robbery with aggravating circumstances, another count of robbery with aggravating circumstances, and charges of arson and defeating or obstructing the course of justice.While it is alleged that only two of the four – Sylvester and Gavin Beukes (25) – were at Kareeboomvloer when eight people were massacred there on March 4 to 5 2005, it is also alleged that all four accused “at all relevant times acted with a common purpose”.If the prosecution in the trial manages to prove this allegation, it would mean that all four accused men – and not just the Beukes brothers, who have admitted being present at the scene when the killings were carried out – could be convicted on the murder and other charges that they face in connection with the events that are alleged to have taken place at the farm.In the indictment, it is alleged that Erasmus (29) recruited Sylvester Beukes (22) to carry out a plan to kill Erasmus’s parents, Justus Christiaan (‘Rassie’) and Elzabé Erasmus, who were among the victims of the massacre.It is also alleged that a hoard of items stolen from the farm after the killings were subsequently stored at Neidel’s homes at Rehoboth and at a farm west of the town.The State is further alleging that that Neidel (30) and the two brothers had been conspiring since December 2004 that the loot that was to be obtained through the crimes that they were planning to commit at the farm would be hidden with Neidel.When the trial resumes in five months’ time, the Judge President will continue hearing testimony in a trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of evidence about statements that the Beukes brothers allegedly made to the Police in the time between their arrest on the evening of March 6 2005 and their first appearance in court on March 9 2005.The brothers’ defence counsel, Winnie Christians, has objected against testimony of those alleged statements being heard by Judge President Damaseb.He told the Judge President that the brothers had been beaten and intimidated by Police officers before the claimed statements were made.The former Police Chief Inspector who played a leading role in the investigation, Kobie Theron, continued testifying in the trial within a trial yesterday. “He did it freely and voluntarily, in a very relaxed and calm way,” he told the court about statements that he said Sylvester Beukes had made to him between the time of his arrest and his first appearance in the Mariental Magistrate’s Court.Christians told Theron that it was clear from a video recording made at the brothers’ house on the evening of March 6 2005 that Sylvester Beukes actually appeared to be nervous and ill at ease at that stage.Theron commented: “Coming from a scene where you murder eight people, according to my human knowledge no-one can be calm or normal.”Christians also told Theron that according to his instructions, the brothers told Theron from the beginning that they had been assaulted when they were arrested by the Police, but he did nothing about those claims.Theron answered that this was “a total lie” and that no such report had ever been made to him by the brothers.He acknowledged that he saw that Sylvester Beukes had an injury under his left eye and that this eye was swollen, but said he assumed – having seen at the scene of the killings that the Erasmus couple also had bruising under their eyes – that these injuries had been sustained at the farm.”No one was beaten in my presence,” Theron stated.He likewise flatly denied a claim – part of Christians’s instructions from his clients, the lawyer said – that he had slapped Sylvester Beukes.Theron is the 21st witness to testify in the trial.He will have to return to the witness stand to face cross-examination on the main part of his testimony when the trial resumes.Theron was already in his second day of giving evidence on Wednesday last week when admissions that Christians said Sylvester Beukes was making were placed on record.Part of these admissions was that Beukes was admitting that he had killed all eight people who died at Kareeboomvloer two years ago.The Beukes brothers remain in custody.Neidel remains free on bail, as does Erasmus, after Deputy Prosecutor General Antonia Verhoef decided yesterday not to continue with an enquiry to determine whether Erasmus had broken one of his bail conditions by allegedly failing to report to the Windhoek Police station as required on Monday evening.Erasmus’s defence counsel, Petrie Theron, has said that a burst tyre while his client was travelling from Henties Bay back to Windhoek on Monday prevented Erasmus from making it to the Police station on time.