Farmworkers convicted of employer’s murder

TWO of the three former farmworkers who had been charged with killing one of their employers and also trying to kill his wife at their Karibib district farm in January 2002, were convicted of murder and attempted murder in the High Court in Windhoek last week.

Judge Mavis Gibson is set to hear evidence and arguments before the sentencing of Abraham Araeb (43), Joseph Hindjou (21) and Christof Hansen (20) when the trio’s case returns to the High Court on August 25. On Wednesday last week she found Araeb guilty on charges that he had murdered farmer Adolf Walter Paul Karl Heidenreich (58) and attempted to murder the farmer’s wife, Ursula Emma Getrud Heidenreich, in an attack on the couple at their farm, Mooirivier, in the Karibib district on January 12 2002.Araeb was also found guilty on a charge that he had robbed a bakkie and a host of household items from the couple.He had pleaded guilty on this count.Hindjou was likewise convicted of murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances, on the basis that he had associated himself with Araeb throughout the attack on the couple and the robbery, and had thus shared a common purpose with the main perpetrator.Hansen was found guilty of murder as an accessory after the fact.He had helped Araeb to load a badly injured Mr Heidenreich onto a bakkie and to transport him into the veld at Mooirivier after the farmer had been severely beaten near his house, where his wife was also extensively assaulted.Hansen was also convicted of theft.His bail was withdrawn after the verdict had been handed down.On Wednesday last week she found Araeb guilty on charges that he had murdered farmer Adolf Walter Paul Karl Heidenreich (58) and attempted to murder the farmer’s wife, Ursula Emma Getrud Heidenreich, in an attack on the couple at their farm, Mooirivier, in the Karibib district on January 12 2002.Araeb was also found guilty on a charge that he had robbed a bakkie and a host of household items from the couple.He had pleaded guilty on this count.Hindjou was likewise convicted of murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances, on the basis that he had associated himself with Araeb throughout the attack on the couple and the robbery, and had thus shared a common purpose with the main perpetrator.Hansen was found guilty of murder as an accessory after the fact.He had helped Araeb to load a badly injured Mr Heidenreich onto a bakkie and to transport him into the veld at Mooirivier after the farmer had been severely beaten near his house, where his wife was also extensively assaulted.Hansen was also convicted of theft.His bail was withdrawn after the verdict had been handed down.