Windhoek
A very dejected looking Pieter Farmer yesterday heard that his application for leave to appeal his effective 35-year prison term imposed by Judge Nate Ndauendapo in May 2013 was struck from the roll.
Farmer, who has not been able to secure a state-funded lawyer, was also unable to convince Judge Ndauendapo that he could handle the appeal without any legal counsel.
The judge ordered the application struck from the roll until such time that Farmer can obtain either private legal counsel or can convince the Department of Legal Aid that his appeal application has merits.
He will be able to lodge a fresh application for leave to appeal if he succeeds in obtaining legal representation.
Farmer was convicted by Judge Ndauendapo on April 09, 2013 for the murder of 18-year-old Dolleveria McKay and the unlawful possession of the murder weapon and ammunition.
McKay was his ex-girlfriend and mother of his eight-year-old daughter.
He was given a 35-year sentence for the murder of McKay and one year for the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. Both sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
At the time of the sentence Judge Ndauendapo remarked that the behaviour of men who resort to killing their girlfriends/wives when the relationship is ended is totally unacceptable and “must be condemned in the strongest possible terms”, adding that “society is craving for severe sentences against men who kill women”.
He was found guilty by Judge Ndauendapo of the brutal and intentional murder of his then seven-month-old baby girl’s mother. She was shot through the heart in the early hours of November 12 2005 at the Krönlein residential area of Keetmanshoop, her killer having used a 7.65mm calibre pistol.
Judge Ndauendapo was adamant that Farmer at no stage during the trial showed any genuine remorse for his actions. “The first thing in showing genuine remorse is to acknowledge the wrongfulness of one’s conduct and then to demonstrate remorsefulness,” Judge Ndauendapo reiterated. He went on to say that it is easy to do that if one is genuinely sorry for one’s conduct.
Judge Ndauendapo said that it was clear from the evidence before court that Farmer was heartbroken because the deceased ended the relationship and was seeing someone else. “That is why he shot her,” he said.
He went on to say that while Farmer did confess remorse in his plea examination, at the time he shot the deceased he did not express any remorse nor shortly thereafter.
In fact, Judge Ndauendapo remarked, according to the mother of the deceased, he had not expressed any remorse for the killing of her daughter.
He also never testified in court where he could have expressed remorse, said the judge.
“His conduct after shooting the deceased was uncaring and emotionless,” Judge Ndauendapo stressed.
What was aggravating in his view, according to Judge Ndauendapo, was the fact that more than seven years after the deceased was murdered Farmer has not shown any sign of remorse.