Deadly beating suspect was sane, psychiatrist decides

A WINDHOEK resident who is accused of having beaten a friend and drinking partner to death on a hung-over morning in September 2004 was not mentally ill at the time, but his responsibility for his actions was diminished because of the role that alcohol played in the incident, a State psychiatrist has concluded.

A report that State psychiatrist Ndahambelela Mthoko compiled on the mental state of murder accused Edwin Herbert Feris (42) was submitted to the High Court when Feris made another pre-trial appearance on Thursday last week. It is alleged that Feris murdered a childhood friend, Harold Husselman (44), at his home in Bach Street in Windhoek on September 11 2004.Feris allegedly flew into a rage after Husselman bumped Feris’s car into a wall.Feris had asked him to start the car and warm up its engine for him that morning.In his rage, he allegedly assaulted Husselman with a variety of makeshift weapons, including a steering wheel lock, bricks and a stone, it is claimed in the indictment that Feris is set to face at his trial in the High Court.Husselmann died later that day as a result of chest injuries.Feris was employed as a Chief Personnel Officer in the then Ministry of Prisons and Correctional Services at the time of the incident.Feris will plead not guilty at the start of his trial, his defence counsel, Jan Wessels, has already informed the court.The basis of this plea will be a claim that Feris was experiencing an episode of temporary insanity or “sane automatism” when the incident took place, Wessels has stated.The court has also been informed that Feris will admit that he assaulted Husselman, with whom he had spent the previous evening drinking heavily.According to a pre-trial statement by Feris that has been submitted to the court, Feris will claim that he was “heavily intoxicated” at the time.A psychiatrist whom he has consulted, Dr Reinhardt Sieberhagen, “has explained to me that I may have suffered from a delirious state due to either or both being intoxicated and being hypoglycaemic as a result of not eating the previous night,” Feris has stated.Hypoglycaemia is an abnormally low blood-sugar level.It can have an effect on a person’s state of mind, and can result in unpredictable and uncharacteristic behaviour.”It will further be alleged, according to my psychiatrist, that, at the time of the incident, I would not have been able to know what I was doing is wrong and I would not have been able to respond to the knowledge of the wrongfulness of the deed,” Feris has claimed.High Court Judge Sylvester Mainga ordered in late February that Feris should be sent for psychiatric observation to get a second opinion on his state of mind.Feris returned to court on Thursday.The report that is the result of that period of observation was also handed to the court.Dr Mthoka does not entirely agree with the conclusions that Feris claims Dr Sieberhagen reached, the report indicates.Feris “has a long-standing history of alcohol abuse”, Dr Mthoko reported.His drinking pattern is associated with periods of amnesia or “black-outs”, as well as violence while intoxicated, she stated.On the incident that resulted in him being prosecuted, she reported: “He was not able to give a detailed account of the alleged crime.”She concluded, though, that at the time of the incident Feris was not mentally ill.”He was capable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his act, but his ability to act in accordance with an appreciation of the wrongfulness of his act was diminished,” Dr Mthoka stated.”Alcohol functioned as a disinhibiting factor that diminished his capacity to control and regulate his behaviour.”Dr Mthoka added: “In this case alcohol in itself was not a principal factor for him to commit the alleged crime.There were other causal variables such as the damage to his car and the alleged insults by the deceased, which provoked anger in him.”Acting Judge Arthur Pickering postponed the case to October 23, when Feris’s trial is scheduled to start.The trial has been set down on the court roll until November 2.Feris remains free on bail of N$5 000, which had been temporarily suspended during the month of psychiatric observation.It is alleged that Feris murdered a childhood friend, Harold Husselman (44), at his home in Bach Street in Windhoek on September 11 2004.Feris allegedly flew into a rage after Husselman bumped Feris’s car into a wall.Feris had asked him to start the car and warm up its engine for him that morning.In his rage, he allegedly assaulted Husselman with a variety of makeshift weapons, including a steering wheel lock, bricks and a stone, it is claimed in the indictment that Feris is set to face at his trial in the High Court.Husselmann died later that day as a result of chest injuries.Feris was employed as a Chief Personnel Officer in the then Ministry of Prisons and Correctional Services at the time of the incident.Feris will plead not guilty at the start of his trial, his defence counsel, Jan Wessels, has already informed the court.The basis of this plea will be a claim that Feris was experiencing an episode of temporary insanity or “sane automatism” when the incident took place, Wessels has stated.The court has also been informed that Feris will admit that he assaulted Husselman, with whom he had spent the previous evening drinking heavily.According to a pre-trial statement by Feris that has been submitted to the court, Feris will claim that he was “heavily intoxicated” at the time.A psychiatrist whom he has consulted, Dr Reinhardt Sieberhagen, “has explained to me that I may have suffered from a delirious state due to either or both being intoxicated and being hypoglycaemic as a result of not eating the previous night,” Feris has stated.Hypoglycaemia is an abnormally low blood-sugar level.It can have an effect on a person’s state of mind, and can result in unpredictable and uncharacteristic behaviour.”It will further be alleged, according to my psychiatrist, that, at the time of the incident, I would not have been able to know what I was doing is wrong and I would not have been able to respond to the knowledge of the wrongfulness of the deed,” Feris has claimed.High Court Judge Sylvester Mainga ordered in late February that Feris should be sent for psychiatric observation to get a second opinion on his state of mind.Feris returned to court on Thursday.The report that is the result of that period of observation was also handed to the court.Dr Mthoka does not entirely agree with the conclusions that Feris claims Dr Sieberhagen reached, the report indicates.Feris “has a long-standing history of alcohol abuse”, Dr Mthoko reported.His drinking pattern is associated with periods of amnesia or “black-outs”, as well as violence while intoxicated, she stated.On the incident that resulted in him being prosecuted, she reported: “He was not able to give a detailed account of the alleged crime.”She concluded, though, that at the time of the incident Feris was not mentally ill.”He was capable to appreciate the wrongfulness of his act, but his ability to act in accordance with an appreciation of the wrongfulness of his act was diminished,” Dr Mthoka stated.”Alcohol functioned as a disinhibiting factor that diminished his capacity to control and regulate his behaviour.”Dr Mthoka added: “In this case alcohol in itself was not a principal factor for him to commit the alleged crime.There were other causal variables such as the damage to his car and the alleged insults by the deceased, which provoked anger in him.”Acting Judge Arthur Pickering postponed the case to October 23, when Feris’s trial is scheduled to start.The trial has been set down on the court roll until November 2.Feris remains free on bail of N$5 000, which had been temporarily suspended during the month of psychiatric observation.