Sean Burger guilty of murder

SEAN Burger (37), the Windhoek resident who has admitted that he stabbed a former girlfriend to death a little over two years ago, was finally found guilty of murder in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday.

Judge Kato van Niekerk ruled that the only inference that could be drawn from the evidence in his case was that Burger had a direct intention to kill his one-time girlfriend, Theresia Viljoen, when he stabbed her some twenty times with knives from her own kitchen. The murder took place at the 29-year-old Viljoen’s home in Behring Street, Windhoek West, on September 15, 2002.Yesterday’s judgement marked the end of a stage of Burger’s trial that had started five months ago, when Burger pleaded guilty to a charge of murder – but without admitting that he had a direct intention to kill Viljoen.According to Burger, the attack on Viljoen was sparked by the hostile reception that met him when he arrived at Viljoen’s home for a visit.He told the court that she was aggressive and angry towards him, asking him what he was doing there and telling him, through the use of a four-letter word, to get lost.The attack on Viljoen started with a slap from Burger, which caused Viljoen to fall to the ground.He recalled that he helped her up again, before he opened a drawer in her kitchen, took out a knife, and started stabbing her.When the knife blade broke, he took a second knife and kept on stabbing.When the second knife broke, he took a third, and stabbed her some more.Two of the twenty stab wounds that were found on her body had penetrated into her heart.Burger described Viljoen as a beautiful woman that he had fallen in love with soon after meeting her on Mother’s Day 2002.He told the court that they had a romantic relationship which cooled off later, after which they remained friends.The Judge remarked in her verdict yesterday that in her view the evidence did not show that Burger had lost control when he attacked Viljoen.The evidence rather showed that he kept on venting his anger by stabbing Viljoen, and that he kept on stabbing, “taking knife after knife after knife” as they broke.It was clear that he had stabbed Viljoen in the most vulnerable parts of the human body, she said.She added that any court would be entitled to infer that a person who had inflicted such wounds, had a direct intention to kill.The fact that Burger kept on replacing the broken knives, reinforced the inference that he intended to cause Viljoen’s death, Judge Van Niekerk stated.Burger is scheduled to reappear before Judge Van Niekerk on November 22 for sentencing.Burger, who was employed as an operations supervisor at a large Windhoek vehicle dealership at the time of the crime, has been in Police custody since his arrest on September 16 2002.The murder took place at the 29-year-old Viljoen’s home in Behring Street, Windhoek West, on September 15, 2002.Yesterday’s judgement marked the end of a stage of Burger’s trial that had started five months ago, when Burger pleaded guilty to a charge of murder – but without admitting that he had a direct intention to kill Viljoen.According to Burger, the attack on Viljoen was sparked by the hostile reception that met him when he arrived at Viljoen’s home for a visit.He told the court that she was aggressive and angry towards him, asking him what he was doing there and telling him, through the use of a four-letter word, to get lost.The attack on Viljoen started with a slap from Burger, which caused Viljoen to fall to the ground.He recalled that he helped her up again, before he opened a drawer in her kitchen, took out a knife, and started stabbing her.When the knife blade broke, he took a second knife and kept on stabbing.When the second knife broke, he took a third, and stabbed her some more.Two of the twenty stab wounds that were found on her body had penetrated into her heart.Burger described Viljoen as a beautiful woman that he had fallen in love with soon after meeting her on Mother’s Day 2002.He told the court that they had a romantic relationship which cooled off later, after which they remained friends.The Judge remarked in her verdict yesterday that in her view the evidence did not show that Burger had lost control when he attacked Viljoen.The evidence rather showed that he kept on venting his anger by stabbing Viljoen, and that he kept on stabbing, “taking knife after knife after knife” as they broke.It was clear that he had stabbed Viljoen in the most vulnerable parts of the human body, she said.She added that any court would be entitled to infer that a person who had inflicted such wounds, had a direct intention to kill.The fact that Burger kept on replacing the broken knives, reinforced the inference that he intended to cause Viljoen’s death, Judge Van Niekerk stated.Burger is scheduled to reappear before Judge Van Niekerk on November 22 for sentencing.Burger, who was employed as an operations supervisor at a large Windhoek vehicle dealership at the time of the crime, has been in Police custody since his arrest on September 16 2002.