Confession admitted in murder trial

THE High Court trial of child rape and murder suspect Deon Engelbrecht passed a key point yesterday with a ruling allowing the prosecution to use a confession made by Engelbrecht as evidence against him.
‘I took a stone and threw it against his head.

‘He as a result fell down. I then took a bigger stone and threw it on his head.’I threw him three times with a pavement block and threw it on his head. I noticed him lying still.’This was how Engelbrecht (24) described the killing of the 14-year-old Christo Moshoeshoe in Windhoek on December 23 2003 to a Police officer, Detective Inspector Peter Oelofse, on the evening after his arrest, Judge Nate Ndauendapo heard after he ruled that the confession by Engelbrecht was admissible as evidence in his trial.Engelbrecht has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and rape.The ruling in which his confession was admitted as evidence was quickly followed by State advocate Andrew Muvirimi closing the prosecution’s case against Engelbrecht, and defence lawyer Winnie Christians also closing the case for the defence without calling on Engelbrecht to testify in his own defence. Judge Ndauendapo is set to hand down his verdict in the matter on March 6.In his arguments on the judgement that is to be delivered, Muvirimi asked the court to convict Engelbrecht of murder, committed with a direct intent to kill. Muvirimi however conceded that, except for Engelbrecht’s own word as recorded in the confession, there was no evidence before the court to indicate that Moshoeshoe had in fact been raped.It is the law in Namibia that someone can be convicted on the basis of a confession only if there is also other evidence that shows that the crimes the person confessed had in fact been committed.In his arguments, Christians told the Judge that, except for the confession, there was not even any circumstantial evidence before the court that could indicate that Engelbrecht had committed the murder.Christians argued that Engelbrecht has, in his testimony in the trial within a trial on the admissibility of the confession, disputed the truth of the contents of his confession and claimed that Police officers had instructed him what to say in the statement. Several aspects of the contents of the confession do not correspond with evidence that some of the prosecution witnesses have given in the trial, Christians argued. He told the court there was so much inaccurate information in the confession that one could seriously doubt the truthfulness of this statement that Engelbrecht had made.He argued that, as a result of doubts over whether Engelbrecht had carried out the killing as stated in the confession, he should be acquitted.In the confession, Engelbrecht related that he, Moshoeshoe and another person had been smoking a quarter tablet of Mandrax before the incident took place. Moshoeshoe was heavily drugged, and fell to the ground a number of times as he tried to walk from the place where they had been using the drug, Engelbrecht stated.He related that he and the third person left Moshoeshoe behind as they walked off. Engelbrecht said he later returned to where Moshoeshoe lay. As he walked up to Moshoeshoe, ‘I got an idea, in that I must sodomise the person’, Engelbrecht stated.He related that he carried Moshoeshoe to a spot behind some train tracks, where he sodomised him. Moshoeshoe at first agreed to this, but then started to swear at him, Engelbrecht stated.That was when he took the first stone and threw it at Moshoeshoe.The bloodstained objects with which Moshoeshoe is thought to have been killed are part of the evidence in the trial. These are a heavy concrete kerb stone, weighing over 18 kilograms, and a piece of paving brick, weighing some 0,8 kg.Engelbrecht concluded his statement: ‘All I can say is that I was under the influence of drugs.’Engelbrecht remains in custody.werner@namibian.com.na