A police detective conceded in the Windhoek High Court yesterday that he did not find evidence showing that a Walvis Bay resident who was allegedly murdered in his house in December 2023 had been raped.
A medical doctor who carried out a post-mortem examination on the body of Vernon Gavin (53) did not find evidence linking the two men accused of murdering Gavin to a sexual assault on him, detective senior inspector Johan Geiseb agreed while being cross-examined by defence lawyer Albert Titus.
Geiseb conceded that he did not find evidence that Gavin had been raped, but said he could not exclude such a possibility either.
Geiseb told judge Philanda Christiaan that he found clothing scattered in Gavin’s bedroom and two empty bottles of beer and a half-empty bottle of beer on a table in Gavin’s house, and that Gavin’s body was found naked in a shower in the house.
To him it looked like someone “was having fun” in the house, and he thought this might have included sexual activity, Geiseb said.
He also told the court that in terms of the law it can be an act of rape as well if an object, rather than a genital organ, is used by a perpetrator.
Two accused, Quanito van Vuuren (28) and Sem Moses (23), are on trial before judge Christiaan on charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and rape.
The state is alleging that they robbed, raped and murdered Gavin in his house at Walvis Bay on 30 December 2023.
Van Vuuren and Moses both denied guilt on the charges when their trial started two months ago.
Titus, who is representing Van Vuuren, told Geiseb during his cross-examination that according to Van Vuuren he did not engage in any kind of sexual act with Gavin. Geiseb agreed that he could not dispute that.
Titus also told Geiseb that Van Vuuren is saying he and Moses were both at Gavin’s house during the morning of 30 December 2023, after Gavin had invited them to his home.
Van Vuuren’s version is that he, Moses and Gavin were drinking beer at the house, and that he later heard the sounds of a commotion coming from Gavin’s bedroom.
When Van Vuuren went to look what caused the sounds, he found Gavin lying on the floor, with Moses present in the room, and he thought Gavin was unconscious, Titus said.
He continued that Van Vuuren is saying he then saw an opportunity to steal a cellphone and tablet computer from Gavin’s house.
Van Vuuren is denying that he assaulted Gavin or tied his ankles together, Titus said as well.
Moses is denying that he was present at Gavin’s house, his defence lawyer, Milton Engelbrecht, has informed the court.
However, DNA test results from cigarette butts found in an ashtray in the house link Moses to the crime scene, and he is also linked by a version of events that Van Vuuren first gave during a bail application hearing, Geiseb said.
According to Engelbrecht, though, the cigarette butts were not correctly collected at the scene and packaged before they were sent for DNA testing to be done.
The trial is continuing.
State advocate Beata Hamunyela is prosecuting.
