Arndt and Afrikaner found guilty of Botma couple’s murder on //Kharas farm

Two men accused of murdering an elderly couple at a farm in the //­Kharas region in February 2018 have been found guilty on multiple charges in the Windhoek High Court.

Judge Dinnah Usiku convicted Julius Arndt (47) and Andries Afrikaner (43) both on two counts of murder and charges of housebreaking and robbery with aggravating circumstances, rape and conspiring to commit murder and robbery, in a judgement delivered on Friday.

A third accused, Johannes Christiaan (43), was found not guilty on all charges.

The three men were accused of murdering and robbing farming couple Giel and Sarie Botma after breaking into their house near Koës in the //Kharas region during the night of 2 to 3 February 2018.

Giel (78) was killed when he was shot at point-blank range with a (.22) calibre rifle.

Sarie (80) was found partly naked, locked in a bathroom in the couple’s house. She had been strangled with a shoelace. The state alleged she had been raped as well.

In her judgement, Usiku found that forensic evidence showed she had been raped by Arndt. According to DNA test results, her DNA was found on Arndt’s underwear, and his DNA was found under her fingernails.

Usiku also found that Arndt and Afrikaner assisted each other in committing the crimes at the couple’s home.

Afrikaner’s presence at the scene where Sarie was raped, and the fact that he did nothing to dissociate himself from Arndt’s actions, made him a willing participant in the crimes committed at the couple’s home, Usiku said.

Arndt was arrested at Aranos on the day after the double murder. He had a pickup belonging to Giel Botma, a .22 rifle and items that belonged to the murdered couple in his possession.

Afrikaner and Christiaan were also arrested on the day after the incident.

All three of the accused men made self-incriminating statements to a magistrate at Keetmanshoop following their arrest.

In the statements, each of them admitted they had been at the Botmas’ farm during the night when the couple was killed.

However, while Arndt and Frederick further admitted they had burgled the couple’s house and implicated each other in connection with the killing of the Botmas, Christiaan claimed he did not enter the farmhouse and that he had left the scene after he had seen his two co-accused enter the house.

Arndt said he and his co-accused had gone to the farm to steal money, and that during the time they had been at the farm he had found Afrikaner with a .22 rifle in the house.

He also said Afrikaner had told him he had killed the Botmas.

According to Afrikaner, though, he was outside the house while Arndt was inside, and he heard the sound of two gunshots coming from the house.

Afrikaner also said after he went into the house, he saw Giel lying on the floor inside and he found Arndt in a room where he was strangling Sarie.

Afrikaner did not testify in his own defence during the trial.

Christiaan told the court he and his co-accused had gone to the Botmas’ farm to get meat from someone.

After arriving at the farm, Arndt and Afrikaner entered the Botmas’ house through an open window.

Christiaan said he stayed outside the house and walked back to Koës, leaving Arndt and Afrikaner behind at the farm.

Usiku said in her judgement that, whereas Arndt and Afrikaner in their confessions tried to blame each other regarding who first went into the Botmas’ house, “what is crucial is that they both entered the farm house illegally at night, through the window”.

Considering the manner the couple was killed through being shot and strangled, the two men had a direct intention to kill them, Usiku found.

On Christiaan’s version of events, the judge said his explanation “might be reasonably possibly true, therefore, he is entitled to the benefit of doubt”.

The two convicted men have to appear in court again on 15 November for a presentence hearing.

State advocate Seredine Jacobs is prosecuting.

Arndt and Afrikaner are being represented by defence lawyers Joseph Andreas and Tommy Andima, respectively.

Salomon Kanyemba represented Christiaan.