Lüderitz man guilty over killing of brother

A Lüderitz resident who killed his brother by stabbing him repeatedly with a knife has been found guilty of culpable homicide after standing trial in the Windhoek High Court.

Brenton Hendricks (24) was found not guilty on a charge of murder, but convicted of culpable homicide, in a judgement delivered by judge Claudia Claasen on Friday.

Claasen found that Hendricks was entitled to defend himself against an assault by his older brother, Joslin Hendricks (26), at their family home at Lüderitz on 25 September 2022, but that he exceeded the bounds of self-defence when he used a kitchen knife to stab his brother, with fatal results.

Brenton told the judge during his trial that he was preparing an evening meal in his room when he heard voices outside and went to look what was going on.

He took a knife, tucked under the waistband of his shorts, with him when he went outside.

Brenton said he found his brother arguing with and swearing at their father.

When he asked his brother why he was going on like that, Joslin grabbed him by his chest and neck, threw him to the ground and then punched him while kneeling on top of him, Brenton said.

During the fight, he tried to get his brother off him, but Joslin also strangled him, and he then pulled out the knife and stabbed Joslin several times, he said.

After Joslin had collapsed in their house, Brenton told their father that they had to rush him to a hospital.

At the hospital, they were informed that Joslin had died.

According to a post-mortem examination report, seven stab injuries were recorded on Joslin’s body. Some of the injuries were superficial, but two stab wounds to Joslin’s chest were fatal.

Brenton used a kitchen knife with a 21-centimetre-long blade to stab his brother, Claasen noted in her judgement.

“The evidence from both sides reveals that the deceased was the aggressor at the outset,” she said.

“The court is satisfied that he [Brenton] was indeed attacked,” Claasen added.

“All things considered […] I find that it was necessary to defend himself,” she said as well.

However, the means used by Brenton, in the form of a knife with a blade 21 centimetres long, “was not reasonably necessary in the circumstances”, Claasen stated.

The knife was “a formidable weapon”, and Brenton used it to stab his brother seven times, Claasen remarked.

“That, in my view, is excessive in the circumstances,” she said. “He went overboard in his defence and ought reasonably to have foreseen that he might exceed the bounds of private defence. He was thus negligent in his actions.”

Based on the finding of negligence, Claasen convicted Hendricks of culpable homicide.

Hendricks was free on bail during his trial, but his bail was cancelled after the delivery of the verdict.

He has to return to court on 19 June for a presentence hearing.

State advocate Anna Amukugo is prosecuting.

Hendricks is being represented by defence lawyer Joseph Andreas.

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