Windhoek
“What was supposed to have been a joyous occasion in celebrating the fourth birthday of the accused and the deceased’s daughter by friends and family, turned into a bloodbath and tragedy when the child’s mother got killed.”
With these words Judge Christi Liebenberg began reading out his judgment on Friday. In view of the evidence before court he found Jeffrey Barman (23) guilty of the murder of his 20-year-old girlfriend, Melanie Booysen
Liebenberg found the birthday girl’s father – who in his own testimony denied he had any intention to kill his girlfriend when he struck her with a shard of glass in the neck on November 10, 2012 at the her parents’ house during a party to celebrate their daughter’s birthday – guilty of murder with intent.
The judge ruled that he was guilty of murder in the form of dolus eventualis, meaning he must have reasonably foreseen the consequences of his actions.
It was also alleged Barman subsequently tried to kill Charlton Swartz by stabbing him with a shard of glass in the face. On the count of attempted murder the judge found the evidence presented established at most an unlawful assault on the complainant, in the course of which he was punched in the face. Barman was thus also convicted of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The third and fourth counts arose from separate incidents that occurred after Barman was released on bail for the murder of Booysen. In this instance it was alleged that Barman attempted to kill his nephew, Albertus Duncan, by stabbing him with a knife or other sharp object and that he also assaulted him with the intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) by hitting him on the head with crutches on August 9, 2013. While Barman pleaded guilty to the charge of assault with intent to cause GBH, he denied trying to kill Duncan and said the victim’s injuries were caused when the latter attacked him first. Judge Liebenberg ascertained that Barman acted within the boundaries of self-defense when he struck Duncan with what he called a broken piece of a crutch. He was however convicted on a charge of assault (GBH), to which he pleaded guilty.
On count five, related to an incident in which it was alleged Barman assaulted Aletta Booysen, the mother of the deceased, by pushing her into a fence, causing her to fall down and hurt herself, Judge Liebenberg stated that in his view there is credible evidence to prove the offence of common assault, despite Barman’s denial of the charge.
As to the murder conviction, the judge said from the evidence presented it is clear there was no serious argument or quarrel between the accused and the deceased prior to the assault. Neither is there any indication that the accused had been provoked.
“Although the accused admitted he was drunk, he qualified this by saying that he was not affected in any way by the alcohol he had consumed,” the judge said and added that evidence was however adduced that Barman was “intoxicated and acted aggressively”.
Barman’s conduct was consistent with the unexpected and reckless behaviour of the accused when forcefully striking his girlfiend with a glass on her neck. According to the judge, this was clearly an act on the spur of the moment. He said the evidence does not support a finding that Barman acted with direct intent.
However, the judge said, given the force with which the blow was executed, the position at which it was directed and the fact that glass is fragile and likely to break on impact, there can be no doubt that the cumulative effect of these factors would likely result in the infliction of a fatal injury. As such, the attacker must have been able to reasonably foresee the likelihood of killing his girlfriend.