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Farm massacre suspect seeks bail

Farm massacre suspect seeks bail

GAVIN Beukes, co-accused elder brother of the multiple murder suspect who has admitted that he massacred eight people on a farm between Rehoboth and Kalkrand six months ago, may hear on Monday whether he will be released on bail pending his trial.

Beukes (24), whose 20-year-old brother, Sylvester Beukes, has pleaded guilty to charges that he had murdered eight people at the farm Kareeboomkolk in the Tsumis area on March 5, on Wednesday launched a bid to be released on bail. Magistrate Alweendo Venatius is set to hear final arguments on the application from Public Prosecutor Anita Meyer and defence lawyer SC Garbers on Monday.Except for stating that he was innocent on the charges, Beukes in the main steered clear of the details of the charges against him and his brother, as well as the son of two of the victims of the Kareeboomkolk massacre, when he testified in support of his bail application on Wednesday.Yesterday’s proceedings were taken up by the testimony of Detective Inspector Kobie Theron, the Police’s investigating officer on the case, a court source reported from Mariental.Beukes had told the court on Wednesday that since he was innocent he had nothing to fear, so he would return to court to stand trial if he was released on bail.Beukes and his younger brother were arrested at Rehoboth a day after the murders of farm owners Justus and Elzabé Erasmus and six people living on their farm – farm workers Settie Swartbooi, his brother Sonnyboy Swartbooi, the latter’s pregnant wife, Hilma Engelbrecht, her children, Christina Engelbrecht and Regina Gertze, and a nephew of Engelbrecht, Deon Gertze.When the two brothers were asked to plead to the charges during their first appearance in court, Sylvester Beukes told the court that he had killed all eight victims.He claimed he wanted to take revenge against Mr Erasmus for having treated him badly when he was employed by the part-time farmer.The other people were killed to prevent them from implicating him in the crime, he said.Both Sylvester and Gavin Beukes told the court at that stage that Sylvester had held Gavin at gunpoint and prevented him from intervening after the killing spree had started.According to what they claimed at that stage, he was in essence an unwilling, captive and innocent spectator to what became Namibia’s worst massacre since Independence.The brothers have remained in custody since their arrest.Sylvester Beukes has already deviated from the version of events that he related to the court when he pleaded to the charges.About a week after pleading, he made a sworn statement to the Police in which he claimed that the Erasmus couple’s son, Justus Christiaan (‘Shorty’) Erasmus (27), had actually asked him to kill the couple in return for a share of the proceeds of their life insurance policies.Erasmus Jr was arrested on March 15.He denied any complicity in the crimes when he was asked to plead to the charges last week.Magistrate Alweendo Venatius is set to hear final arguments on the application from Public Prosecutor Anita Meyer and defence lawyer SC Garbers on Monday.Except for stating that he was innocent on the charges, Beukes in the main steered clear of the details of the charges against him and his brother, as well as the son of two of the victims of the Kareeboomkolk massacre, when he testified in support of his bail application on Wednesday.Yesterday’s proceedings were taken up by the testimony of Detective Inspector Kobie Theron, the Police’s investigating officer on the case, a court source reported from Mariental.Beukes had told the court on Wednesday that since he was innocent he had nothing to fear, so he would return to court to stand trial if he was released on bail.Beukes and his younger brother were arrested at Rehoboth a day after the murders of farm owners Justus and Elzabé Erasmus and six people living on their farm – farm workers Settie Swartbooi, his brother Sonnyboy Swartbooi, the latter’s pregnant wife, Hilma Engelbrecht, her children, Christina Engelbrecht and Regina Gertze, and a nephew of Engelbrecht, Deon Gertze.When the two brothers were asked to plead to the charges during their first appearance in court, Sylvester Beukes told the court that he had killed all eight victims.He claimed he wanted to take revenge against Mr Erasmus for having treated him badly when he was employed by the part-time farmer.The other people were killed to prevent them from implicating him in the crime, he said.Both Sylvester and Gavin Beukes told the court at that stage that Sylvester had held Gavin at gunpoint and prevented him from intervening after the killing spree had started.According to what they claimed at that stage, he was in essence an unwilling, captive and innocent spectator to what became Namibia’s worst massacre since Independence.The brothers have remained in custody since their arrest.Sylvester Beukes has already deviated from the version of events that he related to the court when he pleaded to the charges.About a week after pleading, he made a sworn statement to the Police in which he claimed that the Erasmus couple’s son, Justus Christiaan (‘Shorty’) Erasmus (27), had actually asked him to kill the couple in return for a share of the proceeds of their life insurance policies.Erasmus Jr was arrested on March 15.He denied any complicity in the crimes when he was asked to plead to the charges last week.

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