Two farmers, who were accused of killing their employers and burning their homes in Gobavis district seven years ago, were found guilty at Windhoek High Court yesterday.
Judge Naomi Sibte convicted Bernados Afrina and Saratuel Unaeb on January 20, 2018 on four counts, including two murders, in connection with the deaths of farming couples Ahmin (68) and Brunhild Riedel (66).
The couple’s bodies were burned when the house was torched after being killed on a farm in the Gobavis area.
Africa and Unaeb, employed by the couple, were tried on 11 charges in connection with Riedels’ death.
The two men denied guilt over all charges at the start of the trial in December 2023.
In her ruling, she filed yesterday, Shivte found that the African and UNAEB were found guilty of two counts of murder, committed direct intent to killing, and arson and robbery charges aggravated circumstances.
Sibte was also found guilty of possession of a pistol belonging to the illegal supply of firearms and Brunhild Riedel, while UNAEB was also found guilty of counting assaults by threat.
Both defendants were acquitted on rape charges, but Sibout said the state had not proven that Brunhild Riedel had been raped.
The judge also told the court that farm workers employed by Riedels had seen UNAEB grabbing Brunhild Riedel and shoving her into the couple’s home.
When UNAEB realized that the witness had seen him, he approached the witness and threatened to assault him.
Witnesses also testified that when Armin Riedel returned to the farmhouse in the afternoon, both Africanar and UNAEB followed him to the house.
The couple was not seen alive again after being observed entering the house.
A fellow farm worker was a witness, but his testimony was credible and there was no reason to refuse it, Shiboot said.
The court also told us that when farm workers in Riedels saw the couple’s home burning that night, Africanna refused to go to the burning house and didn’t want to leave a mark on the scene, but UNAEB told others to stay in their room and fall asleep.
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Another witness told the court that he had visited the farm about two months before Riedel’s death, and during his visit he heard an angry African who thought he would plan to hurt Armin Riedel as Riedel was screaming at him.
Witnesses also testified that after the couple’s death, Afrinaan sold a pistol registered in the name of Brunhild Riedel to someone in Gobavis.
One prosecutor’s witness testified that Africanna told her that he forced Brunhild Riedel into the house, and he shot her and her husband.
UNAEB told another witness that he did not kill him, but was involved in a crime committed on a farm in Riedels.
Shivute discovered that Afrikaner and Unaeb perform a common cause with each other when they pushed the couple into the house, and that their actions when the house is on fire indicate that they know what is going on.
The only reasonable reasoning drawn from the evidence is that they killed and robbed the couple and set fire to the house, Sibout concluded.
Afrikaner and UNAEB will need to appear in court again on June 17th for a presence hearing.
State advocate Ethel Nrov is indicting. Afrikaner and UNAEB are represented by defense attorney Melissa Windisch.
