Farm labourer murder trial starts

NOT guilty pleas on counts of murder and defeating or obstructing the course of justice yesterday kicked off the High Court trial of an Outjo area farmer and a friend who are accused of having shot dead a trespassing farm worker in April last year.

While pleading not guilty, the two men in the dock before Judge Sylvester Mainga, Pieter Hendrik Spangenberg (41) and Christiaan Johannes Ayres (40), however made some significant admissions as their trial started yesterday. Spangenberg, from the farm Zhukov in the Outjo district, and Ayres are accused of having murdered a 26-year-old farm worker, Evelino Munenge Jacob, at Zhukov on April 24 last year.On the second charge that they face – a count of defeating or obstructing the course of justice – they are accused of having removed Jacob’s body from where he was shot to a spot some 55 kilometres away, where the body was found lying next to a road on April 25 last year.In their plea explanations, both Spangenberg and Ayres admitted that they had been present at the scene of the shooting that claimed Jacob’s life.Spangenberg stated that he had been handling the firearm with which Jacob was shot, but added that Jacob was struck when a shot went off accidentally.He stated that he had no intention to kill Jacob, and also did not have an intention to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.According to Ayres’s plea explanation, he and Spangenberg were sitting on a raised platform, waiting for game, when they spotted someone who did not belong there approaching.Ayres stated that he descended from the platform, with the plan that Spangenberg would be calling the person, and that he was to try and catch the person if he tried to run away.When Spangenberg called out to the man, he indeed started running.The next moment a shot rang out.When they found that the man was dead, they were “very shocked” and he suggested that they should move the body to another place, Ayres stated.Ayres’s defence counsel, Herman Oosthuizen, told the Judge that Ayres was tendering a plea of guilty on a count of attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.However, the prosecution, represented by State advocate Orben Sibeya, did not accept the plea.A colleague of the late Jacob, Manuel Kaluvi, was the second witness to testify for the prosecution.He told the court that on the afternoon of April 24 last year, Jacob asked him to accompany Jacob while the latter went to inspect traps that he had set up in the veld.When they came to a dam that he did not know, he turned around and parted ways with Jacob, Kaluvi said.On his way back home – he and Jacob were working at the farm Pierre, close to Zhukov – he heard a shot.Jacob never returned home, he related.Kaluvi said when he last saw his colleague, Jacob did not have any belongings with him.At the spot where Jacob’s body was found, though, a bag containing a torchlight, wire snares and pliers was also found, a Police officer who was the first witness in the trial, Detective Sergeant Johan Green, told the court.The trial continues today, with Spangenberg’s defence counsel, Gerson Hinda, to continue cross-examining Kaluvi.Spangenberg, from the farm Zhukov in the Outjo district, and Ayres are accused of having murdered a 26-year-old farm worker, Evelino Munenge Jacob, at Zhukov on April 24 last year.On the second charge that they face – a count of defeating or obstructing the course of justice – they are accused of having removed Jacob’s body from where he was shot to a spot some 55 kilometres away, where the body was found lying next to a road on April 25 last year.In their plea explanations, both Spangenberg and Ayres admitted that they had been present at the scene of the shooting that claimed Jacob’s life.Spangenberg stated that he had been handling the firearm with which Jacob was shot, but added that Jacob was struck when a shot went off accidentally.He stated that he had no intention to kill Jacob, and also did not have an intention to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.According to Ayres’s plea explanation, he and Spangenberg were sitting on a raised platform, waiting for game, when they spotted someone who did not belong there approaching.Ayres stated that he descended from the platform, with the plan that Spangenberg would be calling the person, and that he was to try and catch the person if he tried to run away.When Spangenberg called out to the man, he indeed started running.The next moment a shot rang out.When they found that the man was dead, they were “very shocked” and he suggested that they should move the body to another place, Ayres stated.Ayres’s defence counsel, Herman Oosthuizen, told the Judge that Ayres was tendering a plea of guilty on a count of attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice.However, the prosecution, represented by State advocate Orben Sibeya, did not accept the plea.A colleague of the late Jacob, Manuel Kaluvi, was the second witness to testify for the prosecution.He told the court that on the afternoon of April 24 last year, Jacob asked him to accompany Jacob while the latter went to inspect traps that he had set up in the veld.When they came to a dam that he did not know, he turned around and parted ways with Jacob, Kaluvi said.On his way back home – he and Jacob were working at the farm Pierre, close to Zhukov – he heard a shot.Jacob never returned home, he related.Kaluvi said when he last saw his colleague, Jacob did not have any belongings with him.At the spot where Jacob’s body was found, though, a bag containing a torchlight, wire snares and pliers was also found, a Police officer who was the first witness in the trial, Detective Sergeant Johan Green, told the court.The trial continues today, with Spangenberg’s defence counsel, Gerson Hinda, to continue cross-examining Kaluvi.