Graveyard rapist gets 37-year jail sentence

THIRTY-SEVEN years of freedom is the price that former security guard Adolf Kahoro will have to pay for the crimes he committed when he raped, shot and robbed a woman at Windhoek’s Pionierspark Cemetery some 20 months ago.

Kahoro (25) was sentenced in the Windhoek Regional Court on Friday. The sentencing by Magistrate Ben Myburgh took place after the Magistrate had convicted Kahoro on a third count – one of attempted murder – which he had denied when he pleaded guilty on charges of rape and theft of a motor vehicle at the end of July.Kahoro’s trial in the Regional Court started when he admitted that he had raped a woman, and then stole her car, while he was on duty as a security guard at the Pionierspark Cemetery on January 21 last year.On Friday Magistrate Myburgh rejected his claims that he had had no intention to shoot the woman, but that a shot went off from the handgun that he had threatened her with, striking her in the neck, when he and she struggled over possession of the weapon.The Magistrate noted in his judgement that according to the woman’s evidence in court, Kahoro had repeatedly threatened to kill her.At the same time he was also holding a gun to her head both before and after he raped her.Kahoro had also by his own admission held his finger over the trigger of the weapon, while knowing that it was loaded.Among the claims that he made when he testified in his own defence on the attempted murder charge, was that when he tried to walk away after the rape the woman had followed him and grabbed hold of him, setting off the struggle for control of the weapon.Magistrate Myburgh rejected his evidence where it conflicted with the complainant’s, commenting that Kahoro had not made a good impression as a witness and that his evidence was full of improbabilities.The complainant, on the other hand, had been “a good, solid and reliable witness”, he found.Kahoro’s offences were committed with brutal force, and one could only imagine the trauma experienced by the complainant in the case, he added.”(She) so nearly lost her life that it is scary just to think about.”The Magistrate told Kahoro that the court would be neglecting its duty if it did not remove Kahoro from society for the maximum possible period that was within its power – that is, for a 20-year term of imprisonment.On the attempted murder charge, he sentenced Kahoro to 10 years imprisonment, of which five years were ordered to run together with the sentence on the rape count.On the third charge, one of theft of a motor vehicle involving the use of violence and a firearm, Kahoro received the Motor Vehicle Theft Act’s minimum prescribed sentence of 12 years in jail.The sentencing by Magistrate Ben Myburgh took place after the Magistrate had convicted Kahoro on a third count – one of attempted murder – which he had denied when he pleaded guilty on charges of rape and theft of a motor vehicle at the end of July.Kahoro’s trial in the Regional Court started when he admitted that he had raped a woman, and then stole her car, while he was on duty as a security guard at the Pionierspark Cemetery on January 21 last year.On Friday Magistrate Myburgh rejected his claims that he had had no intention to shoot the woman, but that a shot went off from the handgun that he had threatened her with, striking her in the neck, when he and she struggled over possession of the weapon.The Magistrate noted in his judgement that according to the woman’s evidence in court, Kahoro had repeatedly threatened to kill her.At the same time he was also holding a gun to her head both before and after he raped her.Kahoro had also by his own admission held his finger over the trigger of the weapon, while knowing that it was loaded.Among the claims that he made when he testified in his own defence on the attempted murder charge, was that when he tried to walk away after the rape the woman had followed him and grabbed hold of him, setting off the struggle for control of the weapon.Magistrate Myburgh rejected his evidence where it conflicted with the complainant’s, commenting that Kahoro had not made a good impression as a witness and that his evidence was full of improbabilities.The complainant, on the other hand, had been “a good, solid and reliable witness”, he found.Kahoro’s offences were committed with brutal force, and one could only imagine the trauma experienced by the complainant in the case, he added.”(She) so nearly lost her life that it is scary just to think about.”The Magistrate told Kahoro that the court would be neglecting its duty if it did not remove Kahoro from society for the maximum possible period that was within its power – that is, for a 20-year term of imprisonment.On the attempted murder charge, he sentenced Kahoro to 10 years imprisonment, of which five years were ordered to run together with the sentence on the rape count.On the third charge, one of theft of a motor vehicle involving the use of violence and a firearm, Kahoro received the Motor Vehicle Theft Act’s minimum prescribed sentence of 12 years in jail.