Girlfriend testifies in defence of farm murder suspect

THE trial of two men accused of robbing and murdering a farm owner near Rehoboth three years ago is to continue later this month with the testimony of a defence witness who started giving evidence in the High Court in Windhoek late last week.

Defence witness Melea Ortmann’s testimony before Judge Kato van Niekerk will continue on July 20. Ortmann started testifying on Thursday.She may already have told the court more than she was expected to do in an effort to prop up the defence offered by her boyfriend, Joseph Gerson Gariseb.Gariseb, who has told the court he is about 20 years old, and his farm worker uncle, Esegiel Gariseb (44), are accused of having murdered 65-year-old Uwe Bernhard Kupetzky at Oamites farm 2 – situated close to Groot Aub some 45 kilometres north of Rehoboth – on May 12 2002.Kupetzky died of head injuries.It is believed that he was beaten to death with a wooden fencing pole and a piece of car exhaust pipe.He was found dead on the floor of his bedroom on May 13 2003.His house and a shop that he had on his property were found ransacked, with his house smeared with blood and in total disarray.The two suspects were arrested later that day at the farm Kransneus, also close to Groot Aub.The Police are claiming that a range of items alleged to have been stolen from Kupetzky were found in their possession.Gerson Gariseb completed giving testimony in his own defence on Thursday morning.While he admitted that he was present at Kupetzky’s house at the time of the attack on the farmer, Gariseb maintained that he only witnessed how his uncle assaulted Kupetzky, and that he acted on instructions from his uncle when he helped him to break into and take things from Kupetzky’s shop.Neither Deputy Prosecutor General Antonia Verhoef, who is prosecuting the two men, nor Esegiel Gariseb’s defence counsel, Werner Boesak, left the younger Gariseb’s claims of having been a passive spectator to the attack on Kupetzky unchallenged, though.During the cross-examination last week, Verhoef told Gariseb that in fact he and his uncle had acted in concert with each other.She also told him that his uncle had stated to the Police that his nephew had actually hatched the plan to rob Kupetzky, and that Gerson Gariseb had also been beating Kupetzky during the attack while asking him for money.Gerson Gariseb denied that version of events.Having been called by Unanisa Hengari, defence counsel for the younger Gariseb, to testify, Ortmann told the court that she and Gerson Gariseb, who is her boyfriend, moved from Windhoek to Kransneus in April 2002.She said that in the time they stayed there, she, another woman and Esegiel Gariseb once visited Kupetzky’s farm because Gariseb wanted to buy some paint and paraffin.She said she witnessed an argument between Gariseb and Kupetzky, during which Gariseb tried to get the two women to help him to grab Kupetzky, before a woman who came out of Kupetzky’s house armed with a gun chased them off.She added that on May 12 2002, Esegiel Gariseb threatened his nephew that he would no longer be providing the younger Gariseb with food if he did not want to accompany his uncle to Groot Aub, where Esegiel Gariseb went to sell some homemade cooking utensils.Under questioning from Boesak, Ortmann said she had never witnessed Esegiel Gariseb threatening his nephew before the day that Kupetzky was killed, and that he also did not have an authoritative attitude towards his nephew.On another question from Boesak, she denied knowing whether it had been fact been Gerson Gariseb who kept on asking his uncle about Kupetzky and who kept insisting that they should go to Kupetzky’s farm.She however also agreed with Boesak on what might still turn out to be a key point – that Gerson Gariseb would not do everything that someone else instructed him to do, unless he wanted to do it himself.Ortmann is set to be cross-examined by Verhoef when the trial resumes on July 20 and 21.Ortmann started testifying on Thursday.She may already have told the court more than she was expected to do in an effort to prop up the defence offered by her boyfriend, Joseph Gerson Gariseb.Gariseb, who has told the court he is about 20 years old, and his farm worker uncle, Esegiel Gariseb (44), are accused of having murdered 65-year-old Uwe Bernhard Kupetzky at Oamites farm 2 – situated close to Groot Aub some 45 kilometres north of Rehoboth – on May 12 2002.Kupetzky died of head injuries.It is believed that he was beaten to death with a wooden fencing pole and a piece of car exhaust pipe.He was found dead on the floor of his bedroom on May 13 2003.His house and a shop that he had on his property were found ransacked, with his house smeared with blood and in total disarray.The two suspects were arrested later that day at the farm Kransneus, also close to Groot Aub.The Police are claiming that a range of items alleged to have been stolen from Kupetzky were found in their possession.Gerson Gariseb completed giving testimony in his own defence on Thursday morning.While he admitted that he was present at Kupetzky’s house at the time of the attack on the farmer, Gariseb maintained that he only witnessed how his uncle assaulted Kupetzky, and that he acted on instructions from his uncle when he helped him to break into and take things from Kupetzky’s shop.Neither Deputy Prosecutor General Antonia Verhoef, who is prosecuting the two men, nor Esegiel Gariseb’s defence counsel, Werner Boesak, left the younger Gariseb’s claims of having been a passive spectator to the attack on Kupetzky unchallenged, though.During the cross-examination last week, Verhoef told Gariseb that in fact he and his uncle had acted in concert with each other.She also told him that his uncle had stated to the Police that his nephew had actually hatched the plan to rob Kupetzky, and that Gerson Gariseb had also been beating Kupetzky during the attack while asking him for money.Gerson Gariseb denied that version of events.Having been called by Unanisa Hengari, defence counsel for the younger Gariseb, to testify, Ortmann told the court that she and Gerson Gariseb, who is her boyfriend, moved from Windhoek to Kransneus in April 2002.She said that in the time they stayed there, she, another woman and Esegiel Gariseb once visited Kupetzky’s farm because Gariseb wanted to buy some paint and paraffin.She said she witnessed an argument between Gariseb and Kupetzky, during which Gariseb tried to get the two women to help him to grab Kupetzky, before a woman who came out of Kupetzky’s house armed with a gun chased them off.She added that on May 12 2002, Esegiel Gariseb threatened his nephew that he would no longer be providing the younger Gariseb with food if he did not want to accompany his uncle to Groot Aub, where Esegiel Gariseb went to sell some homemade cooking utensils.Under questioning from Boesak, Ortmann said she had never witnessed Esegiel Gariseb threatening his nephew before the day that Kupetzky was killed, and that he also did not have an authoritative attitude towards his nephew.On another question from Boesak, she denied knowing whether it had been fact been Gerson Gariseb who kept on asking his uncle about Kupetzky and who kept insisting that they should go to Kupetzky’s farm.She however also agreed with Boesak on what might still turn out to be a key point – that Gerson Gariseb would not do everything that someone else instructed him to do, unless he wanted to do it himself.Ortmann is set to be cross-examined by Verhoef when the trial resumes on July 20 and 21.