CHARMAINE CONRADIE - Aged 8 years - Calitzdorp (South Africa)

The Herald

28th May 2009

‘Mystery uncle’ called to give evidence

THE Oudtshoorn Circuit Court is expected to hear testimony this week from Gert Flippies, the mystery uncle for whom Charmaine Conradie was waiting the day she disappeared.

Judge Burton Fourie also ordered that Rentia Loff, Charmaine‘s friend who was with her at the Calitzdorp rubbish dump that day, be brought before the court.

Charmaine, 8, disappeared on Friday, February 8 last year.Her uncle, Jaftha Andries, was arrested the following Tuesday and is on trial for her abduction, rape and murder.

The child‘s decomposed body was found three days later near the dump.

Isak van Rooyen, Andries‘s best friend, on Friday corroborated testimony by the accused that Charmaine was waiting for an “uncle Gert” at the dump the day she disappeared.

Last Wednesday Andries told the court he had seen Charmaine and her friend at the dump the Friday she went missing and they had told him they were waiting for “uncle Gert” to pay them R10.

The next day, he told the court he last saw Charmaine alive two days before she disappeared.In a statement after his arrest, Andries claimed he and Van Rooyen both raped the little girl before bludgeoning her to death with a coke bottle.

“I am not someone to hold a grudge, Your Honour, that‘s why I am not angry at Jaftha for saying I was with (him) when Charmaine was raped and murdered,” Van Rooyen said on Friday.

Van Rooyen said Andries visited him at the rubbish dump on the Friday Charmaine disappeared to look for batteries for his radio.He said he and another friend, a certain Wesley, saw Charmaine and her friend at the rubbish dump at about 5.30pm that day.

“They said they were waiting for a ‘Gert‘, but didn‘t know his surname.

“I told them to stay together in case one became lost, the other could report back. Gert promised to bring Charmaine R10,” Van Rooyen said.

Fourie requested that both Flippies and Rentia be brought before the court.

http://www.theherald.co.za/article.aspx?id=426036

Legalbrief Today

Thu 28 May 2009

Closing argument in Andries murder case

The state had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jaftha Andries abducted, raped and murdered his niece, Charmaine Conradie (8 ), defence attorney Wentzel Botha argued in the Oudtshoorn Circuit Court.

The Herald reports that Andries was arrested in February last year after Conradie disappeared while playing at the Calitzdorp rubbish dump. Botha said testimony by Andries' wife and a friend, who both told the court the accused was with his wife when Conradie went missing, should be accepted as the truth. Prosecutor Jan Theron said the court had heard such contradictory evidence from witnesses that it was difficult to know where the truth lay. Judgment will be delivered on 3 August.

http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20090527135612292

The Herald

29th May 2009

‘Victim was waiting for uncle to give her R10 on day she disappeared’

THE 10-year-old friend of murdered Charmaine Conradie this morning (May 25) corroborated accused Jaftha Andries‘ statement that the victim was waiting for “uncle Gert” to give her R10 on the day she disappeared.

Rentia Loff, ordered by Oudtshoorn Circuit Court judge Burton Fourie to testify, said she ran home from the Calitzdorp rubbish dump on the afternoon of February 8 after “uncle Gert” offered her and Conradie R10 each before walking into the mountains.
She said that was the last time she saw her friend alive.

Andries, eight-year-old Conradie‘s uncle, is facing charges of abduction, rape and murder in connection with her death but has pleaded innocent.

http://www.theherald.co.za/gardenroute/article.aspx?id=426240

The Herald

29th May 2009

Andries deserves benefit of doubt, lawyer tells court

THE State had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Jaftha Andries abducted, raped and murdered his eight-year-old niece, Charmaine Conradie, defence attorney Wentzel Botha argued in the Oudtshoorn Circuit Court yesterday.Andries was arrested in February last year after Conradie disappeared while playing at the Calitzdorp rubbish dump.

Botha said testimony by Andries‘s wife and a friend, who both told the court the accused was with his wife when Conradie went missing, should be accepted as the truth.

The various versions Andries had presented to the court and that witnesses said he relayed to them about what happened to Conradie, should be rejected. Andries‘s rights had not been read properly and he was not aware he had the right to remain silent.

Prosecutor Jan Theron said the court had heard such contradictory evidence from witnesses that it was difficult to know where the truth lay. “I leave it in the hands of the court.”Judgment will be delivered on August 3.

http://www.theherald.co.za/article.aspx?id=427133

Legalbrief Today

Wed 05 August 2009

Man accused of killing niece is acquitted

After 18 months in custody, murder accused Jaftha Andries (42) has been found not guilty of abducting, raping and killing his niece, Charmaine Conradie (8 ).

The Herald reports that the girl's decomposed body was found in the bushes near the Calitzdorp rubbish dump about a week after she disappeared in February 2008. Judge Burton Fourie told the Oudtshoorn Circuit Court that Andries had provided at least six differing versions of his part, or lack thereof, in the murder. 'The court cannot make an arbitrary choice about which statement to accept,' Fourie said. He said the court had not been presented with evidence independent of the accused's statements from which to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20090804133440536

The Herald

12/08/2009

Man accused of killing niece freed due to lack of evidence

AFTER 18 months in custody, murder accused Jaftha Andries walked free yesterday after he was found not guilty of abducting, raping and killing his eight- year-old niece, Charmaine Conradie.

The girl‘s decomposed body was found in the bushes near the Calitzdorp rubbish dump about a week after she disappeared on February 8, 2008.

Andries, 42, was arrested while the search for the child was taking place because police said they had seen him acting suspiciously at the dump.

Judge Burton Fourie told the Oudtshoorn Circuit Court that Andries was a weak witness who repeatedly said he could not remember when confronted with simple questions.

He changed his version of events at will and much of his testimony did not make logical sense.

Fourie said statements Andries had made to, among others, the investigating officer Inspector Fanie le Roux, then Kannaland deputy mayor Nicky Valentyn and fellow prisoner Owen Ryneveldt had been allowed following a trial within a trial.

“The accused in his statements provided at least six differing versions of his part, or lack thereof (in the murder).

“These ranged from highly incriminating to absolutely exonerating.”

Fourie said prosecutor Jan Theron had conceded that it was impossible to say which version of events was the truth, and which were doubtful. “The court cannot make an arbitrary choice about which statement to accept,” Fourie said.

He said the court had not been presented with evidence independent of the accused‘s statements from which to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

There had been testimony from witnesses who confirmed Andries‘s alibi, and testimony by the victim‘s friend, 10-year-old Rentia Loff, placed Gert Flippies at the scene.

Flippies apparently promised the girls money and Conradie chose to wait at the rubbish dump for his return. Flippies, however, had claimed innocence.

No DNA tests could be done due to the advanced state of decomposition.

“In light of all this evidence, there must, not withstanding the incriminating versions by the accused, exist a reasonable doubt about whether or not he was present at the commission of these crimes, and he is entitled to the benefit of the doubt,” Fourie said.

Conradie‘s mother, Katriena, told The Herald she was very unhappy with the judgment but would have to accept it.

“My child is dead and we don‘t know who murdered her.”

Andries, who was denied bail and has spent the past 18 months in custody, kissed his wife Annie and their baby, who was born after he was arrested, after his release.

“I have been detained but I was innocent. I hope the real murderer is found,” he said.

“The people of Calitzdorp will look at me askance and I don‘t know who will try to act against me, but I will not move.”

Annie said she was happy her husband had been set free.

http://www.theherald.co.za/article.aspx?id=453204