Shooting suspect blames victim’s family

MURDER suspect Hansie Losper wrote a bitter letter to the family of his wife, whom he is accused of murdering at Karibib in December 2004, to accuse them of interfering in his marriage and influencing his wife to decide to divorce him, according to a document that this week became part of the evidence in Losper’s trial in the High Court in Windhoek.

In a letter dated December 6 2004 – two days before Gert Hermanus (‘Hansie’) Losper (56) is alleged to have murdered his wife, Elizabeth Maria (‘Bessie’) Snyders (41), by shooting her at least four times in her brother’s house at Karibib – Losper unloaded accusations against the Snyders family over the prospect of a divorce that was looming over his marriage, declared his love for his wife, and also apologised to his wife’s two daughters “for what I did to you”. Losper on Monday pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder and a count of assault by threat.He is accused of murdering his wife at Karibib on December 8 2004, and of threatening to shoot one of his wife’s daughters from a previous relationship, Chandy Snyders, on the same evening.In a plea explanation handed to Judge Collins Parker at the start of the trial, Losper indicated that he had no recollection about the shooting incident itself.He stated that he is suffering from diabetes and heart problems, and that he did not eat or use his medication when he travelled from Cape Town on the day before the shooting to visit his wife at Karibib.On the way from Cape Town to Karibib he drank “a few beers” because it was hot, and at Karibib he also had three double whiskies at a bar because he got a fright when he realised he had not declared a revolver that he had in his luggage when he crossed the border into Namibia, he stated further.When he arrived at the house where his wife was staying at Karibib, she informed him that she wanted a divorce, Losper added.He was shocked and sad and started crying at one stage – and the next thing he remembers was hearing his daughter pleading with him to stop, Losper stated.His defence is one of “sane automatism” or “non-pathological criminal incapacity”, he added.Five witnesses have so far during Losper’s trial told Judge Parker that on the evening after the shooting they saw a letter on a table in the lounge of the house where Snyders had been shot.According to Losper, though, the letter handed in as evidence in the trial could not have been found in the house that evening.Losper’s defence counsel, Duard Kesslau, told a brother of Snyders, Ben Snyders, in whose house the shooting took place, that according to Losper he wrote the letter only after he had woken up in hospital following the incident.Losper was found lying on top of Snyders after the shooting, the Judge has heard.He, too, was wounded, but unlike Snyders, his injuries were not fatal.It is alleged that he shot himself after killing Snyders.When Kesslau put it to Ben Snyders that Losper was saying he had written the letter in hospital, Snyders responded by pointing out that the letter had the date of December 6 2004 on it.His instructions from Losper are that Losper got the date that he used on the letter from a nurse after he had woken up in hospital, Kesslau replied.The letter is written in Afrikaans, with both the original and a sworn translation into English having been produced as evidence in the trial.Addressed to the “Snyders family”, the letter starts off: “I, Hansie, am sorry for you, what I did, but you begrudged me Bessie, from the start you were opposed to the marriage, but you put pressure on her that she must divorce me, I was aware of it for a long time.”Losper goes on to accuse the family of having treated him “like a dog”, before he declares: “Remember, I am and was very much in love with Bessie, I still said I would not live without her, nor she without me.”He stated next: “I know, I sinned, but I could not otherwise.Don’t you now regret, it’s too late now to do anything.Greed and hate is your motto, but every one of you serves the Lord?” Later in the latter he appears to blame the family for what had happened, stating: “So be content, you yourself accomplished this.”Addressing the last part of the letter to his wife’s children, Losper wrote: “I am sorry for what I did to you, but there was no other way out for me.”He then claimed that the children had also been “instigated by the family not to accept me,” before adding: “So, I am sorry for you and don’t ever hate one day, it will lead you to ruin.”A report on a post mortem examination that was done on Snyders was submitted to Judge Parker as evidence in the trial yesterday.According to the report, Snyders was shot once in the neck and three times in the left side of her chest.Gunpowder that was found around the wounds indicated that she had been shot at close range.Three wounds to her heart were recorded in the report.The trial is set to continue on Monday, after State Advocate Belinda Wantenaar closed the prosecution’s case yesterday.Losper is free on bail.Losper on Monday pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder and a count of assault by threat.He is accused of murdering his wife at Karibib on December 8 2004, and of threatening to shoot one of his wife’s daughters from a previous relationship, Chandy Snyders, on the same evening.In a plea explanation handed to Judge Collins Parker at the start of the trial, Losper indicated that he had no recollection about the shooting incident itself.He stated that he is suffering from diabetes and heart problems, and that he did not eat or use his medication when he travelled from Cape Town on the day before the shooting to visit his wife at Karibib.On the way from Cape Town to Karibib he drank “a few beers” because it was hot, and at Karibib he also had three double whiskies at a bar because he got a fright when he realised he had not declared a revolver that he had in his luggage when he crossed the border into Namibia, he stated further.When he arrived at the house where his wife was staying at Karibib, she informed him that she wanted a divorce, Losper added.He was shocked and sad and started crying at one stage – and the next thing he remembers was hearing his daughter pleading with him to stop, Losper stated.His defence is one of “sane automatism” or “non-pathological criminal incapacity”, he added.Five witnesses have so far during Losper’s trial told Judge Parker that on the evening after the shooting they saw a letter on a table in the lounge of the house where Snyders had been shot.According to Losper, though, the letter handed in as evidence in the trial could not have been found in the house that evening.Losper’s defence counsel, Duard Kesslau, told a brother of Snyders, Ben Snyders, in whose house the shooting took place, that according to Losper he wrote the letter only after he had woken up in hospital following the incident.Losper was found lying on top of Snyders after the shooting, the Judge has heard.He, too, was wounded, but unlike Snyders, his injuries were not fatal.It is alleged that he shot himself after killing Snyders.When Kesslau put it to Ben Snyders that Losper was saying he had written the letter in hospital, Snyders responded by pointing out that the letter had the date of December 6 2004 on it.His instructions from Losper are that Losper got the date that he used on the letter from a nurse after he had woken up in hospital, Kesslau replied.The letter is written in Afrikaans, with both the original and a sworn translation into English having been produced as evidence in the trial.Addressed to the “Snyders family”, the letter starts off: “I, Hansie, am sorry for you, what I did, but you begrudged me Bessie, from the start you were opposed to the marriage, but you put pressure on her that she must divorce me, I was aware of it for a long time.”Losper goes on to accuse the family of having treated him “like a dog”, before he declares: “Remember, I am and was very much in love with Bessie, I still said I would not live without her, nor she without me.”He stated next: “I know, I sinned, but I could not otherwise.Don’t you now regret, it’s too late now to do anything.Gr
eed and hate is your motto, but every one of you serves the Lord?” Later in the latter he appears to blame the family for what had happened, stating: “So be content, you yourself accomplished this.”Addressing the last part of the letter to his wife’s children, Losper wrote: “I am sorry for what I did to you, but there was no other way out for me.”He then claimed that the children had also been “instigated by the family not to accept me,” before adding: “So, I am sorry for you and don’t ever hate one day, it will lead you to ruin.”A report on a post mortem examination that was done on Snyders was submitted to Judge Parker as evidence in the trial yesterday.According to the report, Snyders was shot once in the neck and three times in the left side of her chest.Gunpowder that was found around the wounds indicated that she had been shot at close range.Three wounds to her heart were recorded in the report.The trial is set to continue on Monday, after State Advocate Belinda Wantenaar closed the prosecution’s case yesterday.Losper is free on bail.