Key accused in Usakos farmer’s murder still on the run

WINDHOEK, 21 SEP – Dion Haraseb, the main suspect in the murder of the 71-year-old Usakos farmer, Willem de Klerk, in October 2015, remains on the run.
Haraseb, 34, was on Thursday scheduled to make another appearance before High Court Judge Christie Liebenberg during a pre-trial conference of case management review in respect of his murder case, but was still absent because the Namibian Police Force have not managed to re-arrest him.
Haraseb’s government-sponsored defence lawyer, Ileni Gebhardt, told that the court she made several telephone calls to her client’s family members and relatives on several occasions over the past few weeks, but nobody knows where he is.
A warrant for his immediate arrest, issued on 23 August 2018, is still in force and his bail of N.dollars 1 000 was finally cancelled and forfeited to State coffers Thursday.
The case was again postponed to 18 October 2018 to allow the police time to trace the accused and effect the re-arrest.
Haraseb’s co-accused persons, Karel Claasen, 23, and his girlfriend Zelda Harases (age not provided) were both present before court on Thursday with their State-funded defence lawyers, Mese Tjituri and Mbanga Siyomuinji.
The trio faces counts of housebreaking with intent to steal; theft of a motor vehicle and being in possession of stolen property.
Haraseb alone faces additional separate charges of murder and malicious damage to property in respect of the circumstances that led to the elderly farmer’s death.
The three accused were all employees on De Klerk’s farm, Villa Rosa, located some 47 kilometres from Usakos in the Erongo Region.
De Klerk, who lived alone after his wife died earlier in 2015, was allegedly shot twice with his own firearm which the accused had stolen from his vehicle.
After the alleged murder, the accused hid his body in an old water tank and then broke into his house, stole some of his belongings and loaded it into the truck.
The loot included two rifles, gas bottles, clothes, lamb and karakul skins, food, a digital camera and cash.
They drove off with the truck, but it broke down between Usakos and Karibib.
The three accused abandoned the truck and hitchhiked to Windhoek and Swakopmund, where they were arrested.
All stolen items, except for some of the money, were recovered.
Claasen is free on bail, while Harases is free on a warning. – NAMPA