Stabbing suspect faces further two-month delay in his trial

THE absence of the results of forensic tests that are supposed to be done on physical exhibits in the High Court murder case of Windhoek resident Sean Burger, delayed the continuation of his trial by two months last week.

Burger’s trial was supposed to continue on Thursday last week, after a five-week break that followed on a request from Acting Judge Kato van Niekerk, who is presiding at the trial, for physical exhibits in the case to be subjected to a number of specific forensic tests. By Thursday last week, the results of the requested examinations were not yet available, and Burger’s case was postponed once more, to August 17 and 18.Burger (37) stands accused of murdering a female friend, Theresia Viljoen (29), in her flat in Behring Street, Windhoek West, on September 15 2002.When his trial started in the High Court in Windhoek on May 6, he offered a plea of guilty to the murder charge, and went into the witness stand to testify about the events of the day that Viljoen was stabbed to death and the run-up to the incident.Burger related that he had been in love with Viljoen, and that they had had a tentative romantic relationship.This ended when she told him that she did not want to get into a serious relationship so soon after a previous relationship of hers had ended.On the day of the incident, he arrived at her home for a visit, but was rudely rebuffed and given an oral dressing-down by Viljoen, Burger testified.He became angry, and for the first time in his life reacted violently towards another person, he told the court.While he could not say exactly what he thought or what he tried to achieve at that stage, he remembered that he took a knife from a drawer in Viljoen’s kitchen and started stabbing her, Burger related.He could also remember taking a second knife to continue with the stabbing after the first one had broken, he added.Having heard Burger’s explanation, Acting Judge Van Niekerk commented that she was not convinced that Burger had had the intention to kill Viljoen – something which would be a necessary element for a plea of guilty on a charge of murder – and Public Prosecutor Frieda Kishi chose to present the prosecution’s case to the court, in order to expand on the range of admissions that Burger had already made.This was followed by the Acting Judge’s request for still more evidence to be placed before the court, including the results of tests to determine if broken pieces of knife blades that were found next to Viljoen’s body fitted together and thus belonged to the same knife, and a test to establish if there was blood on a pair of Burger’s shoes that he admitted throwing away after the stabbing, as well as whose blood, if any, was on the shoes.Acting Judge Van Niekerk has also asked the medical doctor who performed an autopsy on Viljoen’s body to return to the witness stand to give more evidence, and for Police officers who were involved in the examination of the murder scene to also be available to testify.Until then, Burger was told on Thursday, he would still have to remain in custody.He has been detained by the Police since his arrest on the day after the killing.By Thursday last week, the results of the requested examinations were not yet available, and Burger’s case was postponed once more, to August 17 and 18.Burger (37) stands accused of murdering a female friend, Theresia Viljoen (29), in her flat in Behring Street, Windhoek West, on September 15 2002.When his trial started in the High Court in Windhoek on May 6, he offered a plea of guilty to the murder charge, and went into the witness stand to testify about the events of the day that Viljoen was stabbed to death and the run-up to the incident.Burger related that he had been in love with Viljoen, and that they had had a tentative romantic relationship.This ended when she told him that she did not want to get into a serious relationship so soon after a previous relationship of hers had ended.On the day of the incident, he arrived at her home for a visit, but was rudely rebuffed and given an oral dressing-down by Viljoen, Burger testified.He became angry, and for the first time in his life reacted violently towards another person, he told the court.While he could not say exactly what he thought or what he tried to achieve at that stage, he remembered that he took a knife from a drawer in Viljoen’s kitchen and started stabbing her, Burger related.He could also remember taking a second knife to continue with the stabbing after the first one had broken, he added.Having heard Burger’s explanation, Acting Judge Van Niekerk commented that she was not convinced that Burger had had the intention to kill Viljoen – something which would be a necessary element for a plea of guilty on a charge of murder – and Public Prosecutor Frieda Kishi chose to present the prosecution’s case to the court, in order to expand on the range of admissions that Burger had already made.This was followed by the Acting Judge’s request for still more evidence to be placed before the court, including the results of tests to determine if broken pieces of knife blades that were found next to Viljoen’s body fitted together and thus belonged to the same knife, and a test to establish if there was blood on a pair of Burger’s shoes that he admitted throwing away after the stabbing, as well as whose blood, if any, was on the shoes.Acting Judge Van Niekerk has also asked the medical doctor who performed an autopsy on Viljoen’s body to return to the witness stand to give more evidence, and for Police officers who were involved in the examination of the murder scene to also be available to testify.Until then, Burger was told on Thursday, he would still have to remain in custody.He has been detained by the Police since his arrest on the day after the killing.