Judgement in double farm murder case postponed

JUDGEMENT in the trial of two men charged with murdering two farmers in the Maltahoehe area in August 2001 has been postponed by two months.

Andreas Haingura and Cornelius Hamunyela had been scheduled to hear Acting Judge John Manyarara hand down his verdict in the High Court in Windhoek yesterday. They face two counts of murder for the deaths of farmer Adrian Jacobus (‘At’) Liebenberg (69) and his son, Jacobus Coenraad (‘Koos’) Liebenberg, at the farm Sandpforte, about 15 kilometres northeast of Maltahoehe, between August 29 and 31 2001.They are also charged with two counts of theft and one of robbery with aggravating circumstances over an alleged robbery that was carried out at the farm at the same time as the alleged murders.When he testified during their trial in late November last year, Haingura admitted that he shot both farmers to death.He claimed that he shot them in self-defence after a quarrel erupted between him and At Liebenberg.Haingura also admitted that he then took the farmer’s pick-up, which he loaded with items from their house, before he set off for Rundu.Before he departed from the farm, though, he fetched blankets from the farmstead to cover the two men’s bodies.He just felt he could not leave them like that, uncovered, Haingura said during his testimony.The Liebenbergs were discovered dead in the yard of the farmstead at Sandpforte on August 31 2001.When Haingura was arrested in the Rundu area five days later, Hamunyela was found in his company.It is claimed that some of the items stolen from the Liebenbergs were found with the two suspects.The duo will remain in custody until their June 16 judgement day.They face two counts of murder for the deaths of farmer Adrian Jacobus (‘At’) Liebenberg (69) and his son, Jacobus Coenraad (‘Koos’) Liebenberg, at the farm Sandpforte, about 15 kilometres northeast of Maltahoehe, between August 29 and 31 2001.They are also charged with two counts of theft and one of robbery with aggravating circumstances over an alleged robbery that was carried out at the farm at the same time as the alleged murders.When he testified during their trial in late November last year, Haingura admitted that he shot both farmers to death.He claimed that he shot them in self-defence after a quarrel erupted between him and At Liebenberg.Haingura also admitted that he then took the farmer’s pick-up, which he loaded with items from their house, before he set off for Rundu.Before he departed from the farm, though, he fetched blankets from the farmstead to cover the two men’s bodies.He just felt he could not leave them like that, uncovered, Haingura said during his testimony.The Liebenbergs were discovered dead in the yard of the farmstead at Sandpforte on August 31 2001.When Haingura was arrested in the Rundu area five days later, Hamunyela was found in his company.It is claimed that some of the items stolen from the Liebenbergs were found with the two suspects.The duo will remain in custody until their June 16 judgement day.