WINDHOEK – According to Boris ‘The Mouth’ Isaacks, the State-funded lawyer for murder and rape accused Erwin Kock, there is a possibility that his client could have had sexual intercourse with the deceased after she was already dead.
Isaacks said this when he argued on the verdict that Judge Naomi Shivute is to deliver in the trial of Kock accused of the rape, murder and robbery of 58-year-old Rebecca Isaaks in Keetmanshoop during the period October 2 to 3, 2008.
According to Isaacks, evidence was led that the deceased was so drunk that she had to be carried home.
He said the cause of death is very vague and was not clearly established.
While blunt force trauma was indicated as the likely cause of death, it was not established what caused the blunt force injury, he said.
“There is no evidence that my client was the one who inflicted the injury to the deceased,” ‘The Mouth’ argued.
He said the likely scenario could be that because of her drunken state, she could have fallen down and hit her head.
While there is evidence that Kock was in the room of the deceased, Isaacks said it is very plausible he could have arrived there after she was already dead. There is also no evidence sexual intercourse occurred, he said, and added the only indication of sex is the used condom found on the scene that had Kock’s DNA on it. The State also failed to prove Kock used any violence against the deceased, which disproves the charge of robbery, he said. He said there were also no signs of a struggle.
In the end, he said the only offence the State proved is one of theft, as the deceased’s belongings were found in Kock’s possession. Isaacks asked the judge to find his client not guilty on the murder, rape and robbery charges and convict him of the lesser charges of theft.
Judge Shivute indicated she would give her judgment on June 30 this year.
Earlier Deputy Prosecutor General Karin Esterhuizen told the court that based on the evidence as a whole, the only reasonable inference that can be drawn is that it was Kock who raped and killed the deceased.
She said it was established that Kock was in the room of the deceased, as DNA evidence showed and that he was seen at the shebeen where the deceased was drinking.
Esterhuizen told the court that the fact Kock’s DNA was found under the fingernails of the deceased is a clear indication she was putting up a struggle and since the cause of death was put as blunt force trauma it cannot be overlooked Kock was the one who administered the blunt force trauma.
Esterhuizen, noted, the State proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and wants the court to convict Kock.
Kock, who was arrested shortly after the incident, has spent the last seven-odd years behind bars, as a trial-awaiting prisoner.