Windhoek
Mariental resident David Kido, 48, was yesterday convicted on all charges he faced in connection with the rape and murder of his teenage stepdaughter in 2013.
He was convicted of the heinous crimes in the Windhoek High Court by Acting Judge Boas Usiku.
Kido was convicted of the rape and the murder of Izelda Kock, 18, his teenage stepdaughter, during the period September 18 to 20, 2013, while they were alone at his house on farm Jakkalsfontein in the Mariental District.
According to the indictment, after he raped the 18-year-old girl he killed her by hitting her with an unknown object on the head and thereafter buried her in a shallow grave.
He then reported the girl missing at the Mariental Police in order to defeat the course of justice, it is further alleged. He was also convicted of two counts of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
He beat the deceased and her sister, Sharon Kock, with a pole during August of 2013.
Kido denied guilt on all charges at the start of his trial – except the count of defeating or attempting to defeat the course of justice for which he was also convicted.
While he admitted having killed the victim, he claimed it was accidental. According to Kido he beat her with a knopkierie on the side of the head and when he realised she was dead he panicked and buried her in an aardvark burrow.
He however denied he ever had sexual intercourse with the deceased or that he intended to kill her. He further denied he assaulted either the victim or Sharon.
According to Judge Usiku, the accused was not a credible witness and he contradicted himself on various occasions. “The accused has not been a truthful and credible witness and his evidence was riddled with inconsistencies and contradictions,” the judge stated.
On the other hand, the judge said, the witnesses for the state were straightforward and to the point.
He said while the state’s case was mostly based on circumstantial evidence the statements Kido made to the police and Frans Kortman about him raping and killing the victim however painted a clear picture of what transpired.
He further said the substantial part of the circumstantial evidence points towards a sexual assault on the deceased.
“The state of half-nakedness in which the body of the deceased was found coupled with the inability of the accused to offer any explanation how the deceased got into such a state” is a clear indicator of a sexual encounter, Judge Usiku stated.
He pointed out the circumstantial evidence is fortified by the direct evidence of admissions of the rape by the accused, made by the accused to Kortman, Detective Inspector Mouton and Detective Inspector Van der Westhuizen.
According to the judge he found the version of the accused, where he tried to explain away both the rape and the murder charges, not reasonably possibly true and stand to be rejected.
He said the court accepts as evidence the admissions made by the accused to Van der Westhuizen that the deceased threatened to report the rape to her mother, and for that reason the accused killed her.
“The accused had, in the circumstances, clearly acted with intent to kill the deceased,” Judge Usiku said and added that he found the state proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt on all charges.
The trial continues with Kido set to testify in mitigation.
Kido was represented by Titus Mbaeva on instructions of legal aid and the state by Cliff Lutibezi from the prosecutor general’s office.