Farm chamber of horrors

A FETUS, its tiny arms folded across its chest, its little legs pulled up in the characteristic pose that unborn babies take in the womb – still recognisable despite the burns it had suffered – lying next to the charred body of its mother who was killed and set on fire before she could give birth.

More horribly disfigured, burnt human remains can be made out on a metal bed standing next to the spot where the mother and her unborn child lay. On the bed, the remains of two men and two children were found.Some of them were barely recognisable as human beings.A man and his wife lie face down, one behind the other, next to a wall, a pool of blood having flowed from the man’s head.A man sits tied up in a chair.His wrists are tied to the chair’s armrests with sticky tape.His legs are tied with rope.The rope is also tied to a leg of the chair.The man leans back in the chair.His head had fallen back against the headrest when he was shot in the head as he sat tied up, helpless, in that chair.These are some of the scenes shown on Police photographs that have become part of the evidence before Judge President Petrus Damaseb in the trial of four men accused of having had a hand in the murder of eight people at farm Kareeboomvloer in the Mariental district on March 4 and 5 2005.If a picture speaks a thousand words, these photos do even more.They speak volumes about the evil that man can do.The evil unleashed at Kareeboomvloer claimed eight lives – nine if the life of the unborn child is also counted.Hilma Engelbrecht was the pregnant woman whose body was reduced to a blackened, burnt mass on the floor of an outhouse at the farm.On the bed next to her, two of her children, the six-year-old Christina Engelbrecht and the four-year-old Regina Gertze – were also burnt to charred flesh and bones.The same fate was suffered by Engelbrecht’s nephew, Deon Gertze (18), and her brother-in-law, Settie Swartbooi (50).Inside the farmhouse, Engelbrech’t husband, Sunnyboy Swartbooi (35), was the man who was found sitting tied up in the chair in a bedroom.In another bedroom lay the bodies of the farm’s owners, Justus Christiaan Erasmus and Elzabe Erasmus.It is alleged that Swartbooi, who was the foreman at the farm, had been forced by brothers Sylvester and Gavin Beukes to phone the Erasmus couple in Windhoek to lure them to the farm with a report of an accident that had taken place there.By the time the couple arrived at the farm, it is alleged, Swartbooi’s wife, children, brother and wife’s nephew had already been shot dead and their remains doused with a flammable liquid and set alight.When the Erasmus couple arrived at the farm, they were also shot dead.Swartbooi was then ordered to help the Beukes brothers load a large quantity of items that they wanted to steal from the farm onto a bakkie and trailer, the prosecution is claiming.Thereafter he was tied up and also shot dead, it is alleged.In the dock with Sylvester Beukes (22) and Gavin Beukes (25) are Stoney Neidel, a Rehoboth district resident at whose house many of the items stolen from the farm were found shortly after the massacre, and Justus Christiaan Erasmus Jr (29), the son of the slain farm owners.The State is alleging that Erasmus Jr plotted with Sylvester Beukes to have his parents murdered.Erasmus Jr wanted to get hold of his inheritance in that way, it is claimed.All four accused men pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges that they face – including eight counts of murder – when their trial started before Judge President Damaseb in the High Court in Windhoek on Thursday last week.In a plea explanation that was handed to the court, Gavin Beukes stated that he found himself being held at gunpoint by his own brother after he had accompanied him to the farm.Sylvester Beukes tied him to a security door and committed all the offences on his own, while he also forced his brother to assist him with the loading and transport of the items that were stolen from the farm, Gavin Beukes claimed.The Police photos that are now part of the evidence before the court were taken by Warrant Officer Hansie le Roux on March 6 2005.Le Roux told the court that after arriving at the farm at about 06h00 that morning he was the first person to enter the farmhouse, where he discovered the bodies of Sunnyboy Swartbooi and the Erasmus couple.A pink bedspread had been used to cover Mr Erasmus’s body; an orange blanket covered Mrs Erasmus’s body, he said.Swartbooi sat tied up, dead, on a chair, Le Roux added.In cross-examination, Louis Botes, one of the two lawyers representing Erasmus Jr, asked Le Roux whether he believed that one person alone, holding Swartbooi at gunpoint, would have been able to tie him up in the manner in which he was found.He did not think that was possible, Le Roux answered.The trial continues today.It has been set down on the High Court’s roll until April 13, and 66 State witnesses are listed on the indictment.On the bed, the remains of two men and two children were found.Some of them were barely recognisable as human beings.A man and his wife lie face down, one behind the other, next to a wall, a pool of blood having flowed from the man’s head.A man sits tied up in a chair.His wrists are tied to the chair’s armrests with sticky tape.His legs are tied with rope.The rope is also tied to a leg of the chair.The man leans back in the chair.His head had fallen back against the headrest when he was shot in the head as he sat tied up, helpless, in that chair. These are some of the scenes shown on Police photographs that have become part of the evidence before Judge President Petrus Damaseb in the trial of four men accused of having had a hand in the murder of eight people at farm Kareeboomvloer in the Mariental district on March 4 and 5 2005.If a picture speaks a thousand words, these photos do even more.They speak volumes about the evil that man can do.The evil unleashed at Kareeboomvloer claimed eight lives – nine if the life of the unborn child is also counted.Hilma Engelbrecht was the pregnant woman whose body was reduced to a blackened, burnt mass on the floor of an outhouse at the farm.On the bed next to her, two of her children, the six-year-old Christina Engelbrecht and the four-year-old Regina Gertze – were also burnt to charred flesh and bones.The same fate was suffered by Engelbrecht’s nephew, Deon Gertze (18), and her brother-in-law, Settie Swartbooi (50).Inside the farmhouse, Engelbrech’t husband, Sunnyboy Swartbooi (35), was the man who was found sitting tied up in the chair in a bedroom.In another bedroom lay the bodies of the farm’s owners, Justus Christiaan Erasmus and Elzabe Erasmus.It is alleged that Swartbooi, who was the foreman at the farm, had been forced by brothers Sylvester and Gavin Beukes to phone the Erasmus couple in Windhoek to lure them to the farm with a report of an accident that had taken place there.By the time the couple arrived at the farm, it is alleged, Swartbooi’s wife, children, brother and wife’s nephew had already been shot dead and their remains doused with a flammable liquid and set alight.When the Erasmus couple arrived at the farm, they were also shot dead.Swartbooi was then ordered to help the Beukes brothers load a large quantity of items that they wanted to steal from the farm onto a bakkie and trailer, the prosecution is claiming.Thereafter he was tied up and also shot dead, it is alleged.In the dock with Sylvester Beukes (22) and Gavin Beukes (25) are Stoney Neidel, a Rehoboth district resident at whose house many of the items stolen from the farm were found shortly after the massacre, and Justus Christiaan Erasmus Jr (29), the son of the slain farm owners.The State is alleging that Erasmus Jr plotted with Sylvester Beukes to have his parents murdered.Erasmus Jr wanted to get hold of his inheritance in that way, it is claimed.All four accused men pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges that they face – including eight counts of murder – when their trial started before Judge President Damaseb in the High Court in Windhoek on Thursday last week.In a plea explanation that was handed to the court, Gavin Beukes stated that he found himself being held at gunpoint by his own brother after he had accompanied him to the farm.Sylvester Beukes tied him to a security door and committed all the offences on his own, while he also forced his brother to assist him with the loading and transport of the items that were stolen from the farm, Gavin Beukes claimed.The Police photos that are now part of the evidence before the court were taken by Warrant Officer Hansie le Roux on March 6 2005.Le Roux told the court that after arriving at the farm at about 06h00 that morning he was the first person to enter the farmhouse, where he discovered the bodies of Sunnyboy Swartbooi and the Erasmus couple.A pink bedspread had been used to cover Mr Erasmus’s body; an orange blanket covered Mrs Erasmus’s body, he said.Swartbooi sat tied up, dead, on a chair, Le Roux added.In cross-examination, Louis Botes, one of the two lawyers representing Erasmus Jr, asked Le Roux whether he believed that one person alone, holding Swartbooi at gunpoint, would have been able to tie him up in the manner in which he was found.He did not think that was possible, Le Roux answered.The trial continues today.It has been set down on the High Court’s roll until April 13, and 66 State witnesses are listed on the indictment.