Windhoek
The main part of the murder trial of four men accused of killing stock theft investigator Hiambepo ‘Major’ Kazeurua resumed Monday, with Detective Chief Inspector Uitele reading into the court record the disputed pointing out Matheu Kakururume, 29, made.
This after Judge Alfred Siboleka had ruled the pointing out and a confession the accused made to Magistrate Alweendo Sebby Venatius, admissible as evidence after a trial-within-a-trial. Kakururume had objected to the pointing out and confession, saying he was merely told where to point during the pointing out. He had also alleged that he was threatened by the police to admit something he had denied in the confession on the killing of the renowned stock theft investigator.
He also claimed his legal rights were not properly explained to him. Judge Siboleka said he outrightly rejected Kakururume’s claims that his legal rights were not properly explained to him. According to him, all the state witnesses corroborated each other in material respects.
“I am therefore satisfied that the applicant was not influenced, threatened, forced to do the pointing out of the scene and later to make the confession to Magistrate Venatius,” the judge said.
During the pointing out, Kakururume took the police to the scene where he and a co-accused Muvare Kaporo, 25, allegedly set the vehicle of Kazeurua on fire. According to the notes of the pointing out, Kakururume told Uitele that he and Kaporo were in the company of Kazeurua on the day in question. While driving on the road to Farm Brazil, they asked Kazeurua to stop for them to urinate.
They then jumped over the fence and walked into the bushes. This is where they ambushed Kazeurua and killed him, he said, according to the notes. He went on to say that Kaporo placed a call to one Mbure, which is allegedly
the nickname of Stockley Kauejao, 41, who is the main accused.
Kauejao then called back and instructed them to bury the body and burn the vehicle, the notes stated. Kauejao, Kakururume, Kaporo and Afas Kamutjemo, 38, face amongst others charges of murder and defeating or attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice. The state alleges they acted in common purpose.
According to the indictment the accused conspired to kill Kazeurua to prevent him from tracing cattle they had stolen and Kaporo and Kakururume ambushed him and killed him by strangling him and throwing sand in his mouth to prevent him from breathing.
This allegedly happened on December 28, 2012. The partly burned body of Kazeurua was found in an aardvark burrow on January 7, after being reported missing days earlier. It is further alleged that the accused defeated
or obstructed the course of justice or attempted to defeat or obstruct the course of justice, when they burned the vehicle of the deceased, burned and buried the body of the deceased, gave money to Kaporo and Kakururume to leave the district of Gobabis after the death of the deceased and the theft of the cattle, burned, destroyed or otherwise
disposed of the ear tags of the cattle, kept the stolen cattle on Farm Groot Ums and/or mixed the cattle with other cattle kept at farm Groot Ums, and attempted to brand the stolen cattle with the registered brand mark of Kamutjemo.
They all denied guilt at the start of their trial. The trial continues today. Kauejao is represented by Slysken Makando,
Kakururume by Hipura Ujaha and Kaporo by Monty Karuaihe, while Jan Wessels defends Kamutjemo through private instruction. Kakururume and Kaporo remain in custody while Kauejao and Kamutjemo are out on bail