Dordabis farm murder trial rolls over into ’08

THE trial of two men accused of robbing and murdering a Dordabis area farmer more than five years ago is set to continue in February next year, following its postponement after two days of proceedings in the Windhoek Regional Court last week.

Moses Uirab (31) and Bartholomeus Immanuel (30) both pleaded not guilty to counts of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances when their trial started before Magistrate Sarel Jacobs in the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. After the testimony of three State witnesses had been heard, the trial was postponed until February 27.Uirab and Immanuel are accused of murdering farmer Helmut Rohe at the farm Omukaru some 70 kilometres southeast of Dordabis between September 21 and 22 2002.It is alleged that Rohe was killed when he was beaten on his head and face with stones and possibly other, unknown objects.Rohe was found lying dead in a sandy area close to a livestock kraal some 300 paces from his farmhouse, the Magistrate heard on the first day of the trial last week.He would have turned 58 years of age the day after he was found killed.In addition to the murder charge, Uirab and Immanuel are also accused of having robbed Rohe, with items with a total value of N$15 000 – including a cellphone, a video-cassette recorder, a radio/tape system, clothing, bedding and food – alleged to have been stolen from the farm.Uirab and Immanuel were arrested and charged in connection with Rohe’s death in mid-July 2004.Two men who had been employed shortly before the incident were with Rohe at the farm for about ten days before he was killed, Rohe’s widow, Evelin Rohe, testified on Wednesday.She said when her husband was found dead at the farm on the evening of September 22 2002, the two men who had left from Windhoek to the farm with him on September 11 were not found at the farm.Mrs Rohe related that she had picked up someone named Moses who was looking for work near a shop in the city’s Eros area on September 7, and took him to her home to help her with some work in her garden.She asked him if he was interested in getting employment on a farm, and he answered in the affirmative, she said.On September 11, he returned to her house with a friend, known to her only as Kapunga, who was also to accompany him to Rohe’s farm, she said.The two men left with her husband to the farm, Mrs Rohe said.When she last spoke to him on the morning of September 21 2002, her husband told her that the two men were still at the farm, she added.Except for her husband and the two workers, no one else was living at the farm, she said.Mrs Rohe testified that on July 13 2004 she attended an identification parade at the Windhoek Police Station, where she was asked to see if she could identify any of the two workers who had gone to the farm with her husband.She identified someone that she thought was the person known to her as Kapunga, but could not identify the man she only knew as Moses, she said.Uirab and Immanuel have been in custody since their arrest more than three years ago.After the testimony of three State witnesses had been heard, the trial was postponed until February 27.Uirab and Immanuel are accused of murdering farmer Helmut Rohe at the farm Omukaru some 70 kilometres southeast of Dordabis between September 21 and 22 2002.It is alleged that Rohe was killed when he was beaten on his head and face with stones and possibly other, unknown objects.Rohe was found lying dead in a sandy area close to a livestock kraal some 300 paces from his farmhouse, the Magistrate heard on the first day of the trial last week.He would have turned 58 years of age the day after he was found killed.In addition to the murder charge, Uirab and Immanuel are also accused of having robbed Rohe, with items with a total value of N$15 000 – including a cellphone, a video-cassette recorder, a radio/tape system, clothing, bedding and food – alleged to have been stolen from the farm.Uirab and Immanuel were arrested and charged in connection with Rohe’s death in mid-July 2004.Two men who had been employed shortly before the incident were with Rohe at the farm for about ten days before he was killed, Rohe’s widow, Evelin Rohe, testified on Wednesday.She said when her husband was found dead at the farm on the evening of September 22 2002, the two men who had left from Windhoek to the farm with him on September 11 were not found at the farm.Mrs Rohe related that she had picked up someone named Moses who was looking for work near a shop in the city’s Eros area on September 7, and took him to her home to help her with some work in her garden.She asked him if he was interested in getting employment on a farm, and he answered in the affirmative, she said.On September 11, he returned to her house with a friend, known to her only as Kapunga, who was also to accompany him to Rohe’s farm, she said.The two men left with her husband to the farm, Mrs Rohe said.When she last spoke to him on the morning of September 21 2002, her husband told her that the two men were still at the farm, she added.Except for her husband and the two workers, no one else was living at the farm, she said.Mrs Rohe testified that on July 13 2004 she attended an identification parade at the Windhoek Police Station, where she was asked to see if she could identify any of the two workers who had gone to the farm with her husband.She identified someone that she thought was the person known to her as Kapunga, but could not identify the man she only knew as Moses, she said.Uirab and Immanuel have been in custody since their arrest more than three years ago.