Child killer blames ‘dirty thoughts’

“DIRTY THOUGHTS” that entered the mind of confessed child rapist and murderer Willem Louw were the trigger that set off his crimes at Swakopmund early last year, Louw testified in his trial in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday.

Louw (32) went into the witness stand on the fifth day of his trial to give evidence before Judge Sylvester Mainga. On Wednesday last week, he pleaded guilty to charges that he had kidnapped, raped and murdered the six-year-old Rachel Hamatundu at Swakopmund on January 31 last year.Since his plea, Louw has had to listen to the testimony of 10 State witnesses.Louw has denied guilt on the second rape charge and the count of abduction.By yesterday, with Deputy Prosecutor General Antonia Verhoef having closed the State’s case the previous afternoon, it was Louw’s turn to tell the court in his own words what had happened between him and Hamatundu on the evening of January 31 2005.It was not a pretty tale.Hamatundu lived in the same block of flats as Louw in Tamariskia, Swakopmund, the court heard.Louw was at the flats on the evening of January 31, after he had summarily resigned from his job as a security guard earlier that evening, he told the court.He related that he had spent the major part of that day drinking beer with friends before going to work – and ended up telling his employer that he was not happy with having been paid only N$500 for a month’s work earlier that day, and that he was quitting the job.At the flats, Hamatundu – dressed in a pink nightdress – came to him and asked him for N$2 because she wanted to buy some potato chips, he said.He told her that he did not have any loose change to give her, but she did not want to see reason, he said.”She was playful, she was laughing,” he described the child’s mood at that stage.He was on his way to a fuel station shop in the area, Louw said.”The intention was to go and buy something that I like.Like something meaty.Something that the shops nearby don’t have,” he said.As he set off, Hamatundu followed him, he said.He at first told her that she could not come with him, he said.”I kept on walking.The child still came along, laughing.”She walked next to him later on, he said.Then they reached a piece of open ground.”There I suddenly got dirty thoughts and decided to have sex with her,” Louw told the Judge.”There I pulled off her panty and tried for the first time to rape her,” he continued.She started crying, and he stopped, told her that they would be climbing over a wall next to them, and picked her up and put her on the wall, Louw said.On the other side of the wall was the Swakopmund sewage works, where Hamatundu’s father worked.It was there, under a concrete structure that is raised off the ground on pillars, that her body was to be found the next day.On the other side of the wall he told Hamatundu to follow him, Louw said.He went into the space underneath the concrete structure, and told her to lie down, he said.She lay down without protest, Louw added.”That was the moment when I went wild,” he told the court.”I cannot describe it,” he said.”Suddenly something came up in me.”He related: “I could see it with the child as well.I could see it in her eyes.I don’t actually have many words to describe it, but what happened there, I could see with her eyes.She was, she was scared.”Said Louw: “What happened there, is I just went wild and ripped off her ‘nighty’.I then again tried to rape her.She again started crying.I again raped the child there.”Because she was crying he again stopped, he said.”I just looked at her.A lot of things went on in my mind.If I leave the child now, she will tell,” he said.”And I just decided to kill the child.Without any two thoughts I took the child by her two legs and smashed her head against the pillar,” he continued.”Maybe three or four times, or five; I don’t know,” Louw answered when his defence counsel, Louis Karsten, asked him how many times he did that.He left Hamatundu at the scene and went to a nightclub, where he drank some more, Louw continued.When he got back to his flat at around two or three o’clock in the morning, “I remembered what I had done last,” he said.”Then I went back to the scene to check if the child was really dead.”She lay in the same position that he had left her in earlier, he said.Louw said he could not remember when he had done that, and he also could not say why, but he covered Hamatundu’s body with sand.And that was how she was found the next day.”I left the scene and went home,” Louw said.His mother – he was staying with his parents – had left the door unlocked for him.”I just went to sleep,” Louw said.He is scheduled to continue with his testimony today.On Wednesday last week, he pleaded guilty to charges that he had kidnapped, raped and murdered the six-year-old Rachel Hamatundu at Swakopmund on January 31 last year.Since his plea, Louw has had to listen to the testimony of 10 State witnesses.Louw has denied guilt on the second rape charge and the count of abduction.By yesterday, with Deputy Prosecutor General Antonia Verhoef having closed the State’s case the previous afternoon, it was Louw’s turn to tell the court in his own words what had happened between him and Hamatundu on the evening of January 31 2005.It was not a pretty tale.Hamatundu lived in the same block of flats as Louw in Tamariskia, Swakopmund, the court heard.Louw was at the flats on the evening of January 31, after he had summarily resigned from his job as a security guard earlier that evening, he told the court.He related that he had spent the major part of that day drinking beer with friends before going to work – and ended up telling his employer that he was not happy with having been paid only N$500 for a month’s work earlier that day, and that he was quitting the job.At the flats, Hamatundu – dressed in a pink nightdress – came to him and asked him for N$2 because she wanted to buy some potato chips, he said.He told her that he did not have any loose change to give her, but she did not want to see reason, he said.”She was playful, she was laughing,” he described the child’s mood at that stage.He was on his way to a fuel station shop in the area, Louw said.”The intention was to go and buy something that I like.Like something meaty.Something that the shops nearby don’t have,” he said.As he set off, Hamatundu followed him, he said.He at first told her that she could not come with him, he said.”I kept on walking.The child still came along, laughing.”She walked next to him later on, he said.Then they reached a piece of open ground.”There I suddenly got dirty thoughts and decided to have sex with her,” Louw told the Judge.”There I pulled off her panty and tried for the first time to rape her,” he continued.She started crying, and he stopped, told her that they would be climbing over a wall next to them, and picked her up and put her on the wall, Louw said.On the other side of the wall was the Swakopmund sewage works, where Hamatundu’s father worked.It was there, under a concrete structure that is raised off the ground on pillars, that her body was to be found the next day.On the other side of the wall he told Hamatundu to follow him, Louw said.He went into the space underneath the concrete structure, and told her to lie down, he said.She lay down without protest, Louw added.”That was the moment when I went wild,” he told the court.”I cannot describe it,” he said.”Suddenly something came up in me.”He related: “I could see it with the child as well.I could see it in her eyes.I don’t actually have many words to describe it, but what happened there, I could see with her eyes.She was, she was scared.”Said Louw: “What happened there, is I just went wild and ripped off her ‘nighty’.I then again tried to rape her.She again started crying.I again raped the child there.”Because she was crying he again stopped, he said.”I just looked at her.A lot of things went on in my mind.If I leave the child now, she will tell,” he said.”And I just decided to kill the child.Without any two thoughts I took the child by her two legs and smashed her head against the pillar,” he continued.”Maybe three or four time
s, or five; I don’t know,” Louw answered when his defence counsel, Louis Karsten, asked him how many times he did that.He left Hamatundu at the scene and went to a nightclub, where he drank some more, Louw continued.When he got back to his flat at around two or three o’clock in the morning, “I remembered what I had done last,” he said.”Then I went back to the scene to check if the child was really dead.”She lay in the same position that he had left her in earlier, he said.Louw said he could not remember when he had done that, and he also could not say why, but he covered Hamatundu’s body with sand.And that was how she was found the next day.”I left the scene and went home,” Louw said.His mother – he was staying with his parents – had left the door unlocked for him.”I just went to sleep,” Louw said.He is scheduled to continue with his testimony today.