SELF-INCRIMINATING statements made by three men charged with the murder of an elderly farming couple in the //Kharas region three years ago have now become part of the evidence in their trial.
The statements, made by double murder accused Julius Arndt (43), Andries Afrikaner (40) and Johannes Christiaan (39) after their arrest in connection with the killing of farming couple Giel and Sarie Botma near Koës in February 2018, were read out in the High Court at Windhoek Correctional Facility on Monday.
Chief magistrate Philanda Christiaan testified before judge Dinnah Usiku that she recorded the statements while stationed at Keetmanshoop as a divisional magistrate.
In the statements, the three men admitted they were at the Botmas’ farm, Lindeshof, near Koës on the evening of 2 February 2018, which was when the couple was killed.
However, while Arndt and Frederick further admitted that they burgled the couple’s house and implicated each other in connection with the killing of the Botmas, Christiaan claimed he did not enter the farmhouse and that he left the scene after he had seen his two co-accused go into the house.
Giel Botma (78) was killed when he was shot with a .22 rifle and assaulted. The state is alleging that Sarie Botma (80) was raped and then killed by being strangled with a shoelace.
Arndt was arrested at Aranos on the day after the double murder. He had a pickup belonging to Giel Botma, a .22 rifle and items that belonged to the murdered couple in his possession.
Afrikaner and Christiaan were also arrested on the day after the incident.
In his confession, made on 4 February 2018, Arndt recounted that he, Afrikaner and Christiaan had gone to the farm during the evening of 2 February 2018. He stated: “We went there to steal money.”
Arndt said he and Afrikaner entered the house through a window which was not secured by burglar bars, and once inside he was looking for the key to a safe in the house when he heard Sarie Botma screaming.
According to Arndt he left the house and then entered it again, leaving Christiaan outside, to look for Afrikaner inside.
He said in a dark corridor in the house he tripped over a body – he later realised it had been the body of Giel Botma – and then heard a gunshot, after which Afrikaner came running into the room where he was. Afrikaner had a .22 rifle with him, and said, “yes I killed both of them”.
Afrikaner made his statement on 26 June 2018. He told the magistrate he accompanied Arndt and Christiaan to the farm on foot from Koës to fetch meat from there.
Afrikaner said on their arrival at the farm, Arndt entered the Botmas’ house while he stood outside and tried to chase off a barking dog. He said he heard the sound of two gunshots, and went into the house through a window to look for Arndt.
He said he saw Giel Botma lying on the floor in the house, and found Arndt in a room where he was strangling Sarie Botma with a black rope.
Frightened by the sight, he ran away, leaving Arndt behind, Afrikaner said.
Christiaan related that he, Arndt and Afrikaner had walked to the Botmas’ farm to fetch meat from farm workers. He said Arndt and Afrikaner went into the farmhouse through a window and did not react when he told them to come out, and he then ran off back to Koës.
When he saw Afrikaner again later that night, Afrikaner told him, “I have done big sh*t”, Christiaan said. The next morning, he heard from his uncle that the Botmas had been murdered, he also recounted.
The trial is continuing.
Arndt and Afrikaner have been held in custody since their arrest. Christiaan has been released on bail.
