Accused 'worried about hell'

2008-09-01 21:33

Pretoria - A Schoemansville man was worried about going to hell after allegedly shooting the mother of his child 13 times, his church pastor told the Pretoria High Court on Monday.

Richard Martin van Ameron, 33, of Schoemansville outside Pretoria, pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to murder 29-year-old Jana Venter, in September 2004 and of murdering her on June 2 2005.

The State alleges he tried to strangle Venter on the first occasion and that on the second occasion he repeatedly shot her. She died of multiple gunshot wounds in their bedroom, after a party earlier that night.

The couple's pastor, Werner Venter, testified that he had counselled them several times about their domestic problems.

There were 'problems' at home

He went to their house after the shooting, responding to a call from Van Ameron, who told him there were "problems" at home and that he had shot Jana.

The couple were not married, but had a small daughter. Jana had joined the church so that they could baptise their child.

Venter said when he arrived, he found Van Ameron inside his house with a beer in his hand.

They had a discussion in the presence of Jana's father Hendrik about sin and forgiveness. Van Ameron wanted to know if he was going to hell because he had committed murder.

"I asked him what had happened. He said they had friends over, had a party and then went to bed that night. Jana made him angry because she kept on kicking the blankets off him," the pastor testified.

"He lost his temper and shot her. He said he had shot her 13 times. Then he took their daughter to her grandparents."

The pastor said Van Ameron was calm and appeared normal. He was not under the influence of alcohol, and was breathing normally.

Van Ameron claimed in a statement he could not remember the incident at all and had not been legally responsible for his actions as he had acted involuntary due to hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels).

'I've murdered Jana'

He denied that he had ever tried to strangle his partner.

Inspector B S Motsielwa, the first policeman at the scene, said he had received a report about a shooting incident.

He came across Van Ameron in the corridor. He was talking on his cellphone and saying: "I've murdered Jana."

When Motsielwa asked him what had happened he again said "I've murdered Jana" and led them to the bedroom, where her body was lying on the floor.

There was a 9mm-type firearm on the bed and Van Ameron said he had used that firearm to kill her.

The trial continues before Acting Judge Izak Luther.

- SAPA