Court refuses discharge bids of two in massacre trial

THE Kareeboomvloer farm massacre trial is scheduled to resume in the High Court in Windhoek in two months’ time with four accused persons still remaining in the dock, following a ruling given by Judge President Petrus Damaseb yesterday.

Having asked the Judge President on Friday to acquit them at the close of the case for the prosecution, two of the men on trial before Judge President Damaseb, Justus Christiaan (‘Shorty’) Erasmus (30) and Stoney Neidel (31), heard yesterday that their discharge applications had both been refused. The Judge President turned down the two accused men’s applications in a ruling in which he indicated that the evidence that the prosecution has so far placed before the court as part of the State’s case in the trial was sufficient to support some inferences that Erasmus and Neidel might be guilty of the charges that they and their co-accused are facing.Erasmus, Neidel and brothers Sylvester and Gavin Beukes (aged 23 and 27 respectively) are on trial on 15 charges in connection with the killing of eight people – including a woman in the last stages of pregnancy – at farm Kareeboomvloer between Rehoboth and Kalkrand between March 4 and 5 2005.The prosecution is charging that the killings at the farm resulted from an agreement between Erasmus and Sylvester Beukes according to which Erasmus contracted Beukes to kill Erasmus’s parents, Justus and Elzabé Erasmus, who were the owners of Kareeboomvloer.In his ruling, Judge President Damaseb recounted that the Police officer who first led the investigation into the killings, former Inspector Kobie Theron, testified as part of the State’s case that Sylvester Beukes had told him that Erasmus had recruited him to have Erasmus’s parents murdered.Beukes himself has also indicated during the trial so far that he would be repeating such accusations when he testifies in the defence phase of the trial, the Judge President also noted.He said he was bearing in mind, though, that Beukes had five unused opportunities to make these accusations against Erasmus, but that he remained silent throughout before he made his first claims about Erasmus’s alleged involvement in the crimes at Kareeboomvloer.Judge President Damaseb added that he however had to assume that Beukes would be implicating Erasmus when he testifies later in the trial.On other evidence led by the prosecution, he recalled that the court heard that on the evening of March 5 2005, Erasmus drove out to the farm from Windhoek alone after he could not get hold of his parents.The fact that he did not take anyone along for assistance if something was to be wrong, could support an inference that he already knew what the situation at the farm would be, the Judge President indicated.The first person to arrive at the farm after Erasmus had informed the Police at Rehoboth that he had found his parents murdered, told the court that he found all the gates leading to the farm closed, which would seem to indicate that as Erasmus drove away from the farm to raise the alarm he closed all the gates behind him.”Is that action consistent with the actions of someone who had just seen his parents brutally murdered?” Judge President Damaseb asked.Another piece of evidence that could require an explanation from Erasmus was testimony that Beukes had been seen with a firearm licence belonging to Erasmus’s father before the murders were committed at the farm.The prosecution is alleging that Erasmus had handed a revolver and a firearm licence belonging to his father to Beukes in Windhoek on January 31 2005.At this stage of the trial, an inference could be drawn from the evidence – although it is not the only inference to be drawn – that Erasmus had handed the firearm licence to Beukes, the Judge President remarked, before ruling that Erasmus’s application to be discharged at the close of the State’s case was dismissed.With regard to Neidel, the State proved that a substantial part of the goods stolen from Kareeboomvloer after the murders was found either at Neidel’s home at Rehoboth or at farm Areb west of Rehoboth where Neidel was farming, the Judge President also noted.The State proved that Neidel was the first person that the Beukes brothers contacted by cell phone when they left the farm after the murders, leading to an inescapable inference that he and the brothers were to meet each other in the wake of the crimes at the farm, the Judge President indicated further.The Beukes brothers off-loaded the stolen goods at premises under Neidel’s control during the night of March 5 2005.Neidel was arrested late at night on March 6 2005.He added that an inference could be drawn that Neidel had a common purpose with Sylvester Beukes at least, while the prosecution has also proven the possibility that Neidel may have been an accessory after the fact with the Beukes brothers.It is however up to Neidel to inform the court what his state of mind was when the stolen goods were left with him, the Judge President indicated.Neidel and Erasmus remain free on bail until the trial, which started on March 1 last year, continues from September 22.The Judge President turned down the two accused men’s applications in a ruling in which he indicated that the evidence that the prosecution has so far placed before the court as part of the State’s case in the trial was sufficient to support some inferences that Erasmus and Neidel might be guilty of the charges that they and their co-accused are facing. Erasmus, Neidel and brothers Sylvester and Gavin Beukes (aged 23 and 27 respectively) are on trial on 15 charges in connection with the killing of eight people – including a woman in the last stages of pregnancy – at farm Kareeboomvloer between Rehoboth and Kalkrand between March 4 and 5 2005.The prosecution is charging that the killings at the farm resulted from an agreement between Erasmus and Sylvester Beukes according to which Erasmus contracted Beukes to kill Erasmus’s parents, Justus and Elzabé Erasmus, who were the owners of Kareeboomvloer.In his ruling, Judge President Damaseb recounted that the Police officer who first led the investigation into the killings, former Inspector Kobie Theron, testified as part of the State’s case that Sylvester Beukes had told him that Erasmus had recruited him to have Erasmus’s parents murdered.Beukes himself has also indicated during the trial so far that he would be repeating such accusations when he testifies in the defence phase of the trial, the Judge President also noted.He said he was bearing in mind, though, that Beukes had five unused opportunities to make these accusations against Erasmus, but that he remained silent throughout before he made his first claims about Erasmus’s alleged involvement in the crimes at Kareeboomvloer.Judge President Damaseb added that he however had to assume that Beukes would be implicating Erasmus when he testifies later in the trial.On other evidence led by the prosecution, he recalled that the court heard that on the evening of March 5 2005, Erasmus drove out to the farm from Windhoek alone after he could not get hold of his parents.The fact that he did not take anyone along for assistance if something was to be wrong, could support an inference that he already knew what the situation at the farm would be, the Judge President indicated.The first person to arrive at the farm after Erasmus had informed the Police at Rehoboth that he had found his parents murdered, told the court that he found all the gates leading to the farm closed, which would seem to indicate that as Erasmus drove away from the farm to raise the alarm he closed all the gates behind him.”Is that action consistent with the actions of someone who had just seen his parents brutally murdered?” Judge President Damaseb asked.Another piece of evidence that could require an explanation from Erasmus was testimony that Beukes had been seen with a firearm licence belonging to Erasmus’s father before the murders were committed at the farm.The prosecution is alleging that Erasmus had handed a revolver and a firearm licence belonging to his father to Beukes in Windhoek on January 31 2005.At this stage of the trial, an inference could be drawn from the evidence – although it is not the only inference to be drawn – that Erasmus had handed the firearm licence to Beukes, the Judge President remarked, before ruling that Erasmus’s application to be discharged at the close of the State’s case was dismissed.With regard to Neidel, the State proved that a substantial part of the goods stolen from Kareeboomvloer after the murders was found either at Neidel’s home at Rehoboth or at farm Areb west of Rehoboth where Neidel was farming, the Judge President also noted.The State proved that Neidel was the first person that the Beukes brothers contacted by cell phone when they left the farm after the murders, leading to an inescapable inference that he and the brothers were to meet each other in the wake of the crimes at the farm, the Judge President indicated further.The Beukes brothers off-loaded the stolen goods at premises under Neidel’s control during the night of March 5 2005.Neidel was arrested late at night on March 6 2005.He added that an inference could be drawn that Neidel had a common purpose with Sylvester Beukes at least, while the prosecution has also proven the possibility that Neidel may have been an accessory after the fact with the Beukes brothers.It is however up to Neidel to inform the court what his state of mind was when the stolen goods were left with him, the Judge President indicated.Neidel and Erasmus remain free on bail until the trial, which started on March 1 last year, continues from September 22.