Judgement day set for Jones brothers

NOVEMBER 2 will be judgement day for the two brothers accused of robbing, kidnapping and murdering Windhoek businessman Gero Schaum in February 2002.

Brothers Ian and Chris Jones, aged 27 and 29 respectively, and two co-accused charged with destroying evidence connected, will hear Judge Sylvester Mainga’s verdict in the High Court in Windhoek on Wednesday next week. The date was set on Thursday, after lawyers involved in the trial, which started in early August, addressed Judge Mainga on the verdict.By the time that the lawyers had concluded their arguments on Thursday, it appeared inevitable that the brothers Jones will not be able to escape convictions next week.Their two co-accused – Magnum Smith (24), a cousin of the Joneses, and Johannes Gerhardus Pelser (40) – may be more hopeful about what awaits them next week.State advocate Leonie Dunn conceded in her final argument that there was no evidence on which Smith and Pelser could be convicted on the charges of murder, kidnapping, housebreaking with intention to rob, and robbery with aggravating circumstances that they have been facing with the two brothers.Schaum (59) disappeared from his home in Van Coller Street, Klein Windhoek, on the evening of February 14 2002.His car was found parked at a shopping centre in Olympia two days later.Two days after that, his corpse was found in a riverbed in the Brakwater area.Schaum’s hands had been tied behind his back, and he had been shot in his head.Colleagues and his family knew that Schaum kept a large amount of cash in a safe at his house.This was found to be missing.It was initially estimated that about N$400 000 had been stolen, but on Thursday, based on evidence heard during the trial, Dunn asked the Judge to amend the indictment to state that Schaum had been robbed of some N$880 000.Chris Jones was the first of the suspects to be arrested, in Windhoek, on February 21 2002.On the same day, he made a statement to the Police in which he confessed his involvement in a break-in at Schaum’s house, which he said was followed by him and his brother robbing Schaum at gunpoint, forcing him into his car’s boot, and driving him to the Brakwater area, where Jones said his brother had shot Schaum.Ian Jones was arrested in Cape Town early in March 2002.He, too, made a confession to the Police, in which he admitted that he and his brother had robbed Schaum and that he had shot Schaum afterwards.Those confessions counted heavily against the brothers when their defence lawyers addressed the Judge last week.Jorge Neves, representing Chris Jones, who did not testify in his own defence, told the Judge that Jones stood by his confession.According to that statement, it was because Ian Jones threatened his brother with a firearm in Schaum’s house that Chris Jones went along with the hold-up, armed robbery, kidnapping and eventually the execution of Schaum.Neves conceded that his client would have to be convicted, but argued that this should be as an accessory after the fact on the murder charge, rather than as a direct co-perpetrator.Lucius Murorua, who took over Ian Jones’s defence this month because Jones was not satisfied with his initial lawyer, Ivo dos Santos, made an even more far-reaching concession to the court than Neves had done.Given the confession from Ian Jones, as well as evidence that indicated he had a firearm that he tried to get rid of and a huge amount of cash in his possession in the days after Schaum’s disappearance, he was constrained to concede that the evidence had established Ian Jones’s guilt conclusively, Murorua told the Judge.Jones’s confession was tantamount to a guilty plea, Murorua remarked at one point.As for Smith and Pelser, their lawyer, Sarel Maritz, told the Judge that after the Police first contacted them in connection with Schaum’s killing, the two men co-operated fully with the investigation, and their assistance expedited rather than defeated the course of justice.The court heard that after Schaum disappeared, Ian Jones arrived at Rosh Pinah, where Smith worked, and gave Smith N$20 000 in cash and items that included a pistol.He in turn gave the gun to Pelser, who threw the firearm into the Orange River when Smith asked him to get rid of it.Pelser had no idea that the firearm might have been connected to any crime, and should be acquitted, Maritz argued.Smith, however, had some suspicion that Ian Jones might have been involved in some sort of crime, Maritz conceded.He argued that if Smith was convicted of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, it should not be on the basis that he had a direct intention to commit the crime, but that he should have foreseen that he might be committing the offence when he did so.Smith and Pelser remain free on bail.The Jones brothers remain in custody.The date was set on Thursday, after lawyers involved in the trial, which started in early August, addressed Judge Mainga on the verdict.By the time that the lawyers had concluded their arguments on Thursday, it appeared inevitable that the brothers Jones will not be able to escape convictions next week.Their two co-accused – Magnum Smith (24), a cousin of the Joneses, and Johannes Gerhardus Pelser (40) – may be more hopeful about what awaits them next week.State advocate Leonie Dunn conceded in her final argument that there was no evidence on which Smith and Pelser could be convicted on the charges of murder, kidnapping, housebreaking with intention to rob, and robbery with aggravating circumstances that they have been facing with the two brothers.Schaum (59) disappeared from his home in Van Coller Street, Klein Windhoek, on the evening of February 14 2002.His car was found parked at a shopping centre in Olympia two days later.Two days after that, his corpse was found in a riverbed in the Brakwater area.Schaum’s hands had been tied behind his back, and he had been shot in his head.Colleagues and his family knew that Schaum kept a large amount of cash in a safe at his house.This was found to be missing.It was initially estimated that about N$400 000 had been stolen, but on Thursday, based on evidence heard during the trial, Dunn asked the Judge to amend the indictment to state that Schaum had been robbed of some N$880 000.Chris Jones was the first of the suspects to be arrested, in Windhoek, on February 21 2002.On the same day, he made a statement to the Police in which he confessed his involvement in a break-in at Schaum’s house, which he said was followed by him and his brother robbing Schaum at gunpoint, forcing him into his car’s boot, and driving him to the Brakwater area, where Jones said his brother had shot Schaum.Ian Jones was arrested in Cape Town early in March 2002.He, too, made a confession to the Police, in which he admitted that he and his brother had robbed Schaum and that he had shot Schaum afterwards.Those confessions counted heavily against the brothers when their defence lawyers addressed the Judge last week.Jorge Neves, representing Chris Jones, who did not testify in his own defence, told the Judge that Jones stood by his confession.According to that statement, it was because Ian Jones threatened his brother with a firearm in Schaum’s house that Chris Jones went along with the hold-up, armed robbery, kidnapping and eventually the execution of Schaum.Neves conceded that his client would have to be convicted, but argued that this should be as an accessory after the fact on the murder charge, rather than as a direct co-perpetrator.Lucius Murorua, who took over Ian Jones’s defence this month because Jones was not satisfied with his initial lawyer, Ivo dos Santos, made an even more far-reaching concession to the court than Neves had done.Given the confession from Ian Jones, as well as evidence that indicated he had a firearm that he tried to get rid of and a huge amount of cash in his possession in the days after Schaum’s disappearance, he was constrained to concede that the evidence had established Ian Jones’s guilt conclusively, Murorua told the Judge.Jones’s confession was tantamount to a guilty plea, Murorua remarked at one point.As for Smith and Pelser, their lawyer
, Sarel Maritz, told the Judge that after the Police first contacted them in connection with Schaum’s killing, the two men co-operated fully with the investigation, and their assistance expedited rather than defeated the course of justice.The court heard that after Schaum disappeared, Ian Jones arrived at Rosh Pinah, where Smith worked, and gave Smith N$20 000 in cash and items that included a pistol.He in turn gave the gun to Pelser, who threw the firearm into the Orange River when Smith asked him to get rid of it.Pelser had no idea that the firearm might have been connected to any crime, and should be acquitted, Maritz argued.Smith, however, had some suspicion that Ian Jones might have been involved in some sort of crime, Maritz conceded.He argued that if Smith was convicted of defeating or obstructing the course of justice, it should not be on the basis that he had a direct intention to commit the crime, but that he should have foreseen that he might be committing the offence when he did so.Smith and Pelser remain free on bail.The Jones brothers remain in custody.