Witnesses tell court of Americans’ gun search

Tattoos sported by an American murder accused made a lasting impression in the memories of two witnesses who this week recounted the role they said they played in selling a gun to the American and his co-accused.TWO American citizens standing trial over the killing of a young man in Windhoek nine years ago illegally bought a pistol in the city near the start of January 2011, two witnesses testified in the High Court this week.

One of the two Americans, Kevan Donnell Townsend (34), inspected a 7,65mm pistol that was offered for sale to him and his co-accused, Marcus Thomas, but insisted that they needed a 9mm Glock pistol instead, two of the witnesses in their trial testified before judge Christie Liebenberg from Tuesday until yesterday.

The two witnesses – Gaylo Kavari and Ashley Hendricks – both pointed out Thomas and Townsend as being the men with American accents that they had met through a school friend of Hendricks near the start of January 2011. Kavari and Hendricks also both recounted that they noticed one of the men had tattoos on his arms and a chain tattooed around his neck, and pointed out the richly inked Townsend as being the tattooed person they had met – an identification that Townsend’s defence lawyer, Mbanga Siyomunji, said his client is disputing.

The state is alleging that Townsend and Thomas (34) travelled from the United States of America to Namibia in late December 2010 to carry out a plan to murder a young Namibian, Andre Peter Heckmair (25). Heckmair was killed on 7 January 2011 when he was shot in the head while sitting in the driver’s seat of a car in Windhoek.

The prosecution is alleging that the two Americans had contacted Heckmair by telephone, urged him to meet them until he agreed to a meeting, and lured him to the street in Klein Windhoek where he was killed.

The court has heard that a 7,65mm projectile was recovered from Heckmair’s neck during a post-mortem examination.

Thomas and Townsend, who were arrested a few hours after the killing, are standing trial on charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, importation of firearm parts into Namibia without a licence, possession of a firearm and ammunition without a licence, and defeating or obstructing the course of justice. They have denied guilt on all counts. According to Hendricks and Kavari, they first met Townsend and Thomas in Windhoek on 2 January 2011, after a school friend of Hendricks had contacted him to ask if he knew of somebody that wanted to sell a firearm. By the time they met Townsend and Thomas they had got hold of a 7,65mm pistol from another friend of Hendricks, Kavari and Hendricks testified.

They recounted that when this gun was handed over to Townsend, he showed it to Thomas, inspected it, and measured it against a replacement barrel that he had in a transparent plastic box, before he told them he was looking for 9mm Glock pistol instead.

The two witnesses said they still had the 7,65mm pistol with them when they left from their first meeting with Townsend and Thomas. During the evening of that day, Hendricks said, his friend phoned him and said the two Americans would be taking the 7,65mm pistol after all. They met Townsend and Thomas for a second time that evening, but when Townsend saw the gun came with only one bullet, he said they would take the firearm if it had more ammunition, Hendricks said.

Kavari testified that he then contacted the brother of a former girlfriend of his to ask him for bullets for the pistol, and that he received four bullets from him.

Hendricks and Kavari both testified that they handed over the gun and bullets to the two Americans the next day. The gun was to be sold for N$1 000, but Thomas said he had a problem with his bank card and could pay only N$500 at that stage, Kavari said. Four days later, on 7 January 2011, the friend of Hendricks who had introduced them to Townsend and Thomas called Hendricks again and told him he could collect the outstanding payment of N$500 from him, the two witnesses testified. They also acknowledged that the selling of the pistol and bullets had been an illegal transaction. The trial is continuing.

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