'I couldn't do anything'

2008-09-02 19:45

Pretoria - A Schoemansville mother reported a domestic violence incident several months before she was shot dead, the Pretoria High Court heard on Tuesday.

The woman however refused to lay a charge at the time, Hartebeespoort police Constable Hermien Oosthuizen testified.

Oosthuizen said the murdered Jana Venter arrived with her sister Eleanor at the police station in September 2004 with finger marks on her neck.

She reported an incident to the police but would not lay a charge, saying she first wanted to see her doctor.

Venter's common-law husband, Richard van Ameron, 33, denied guilt on Monday to charges that he attempted to kill her in September 2004 and murdered her in June the next year.

The two were not married, but have a daughter.

Van Ameron denied ever assaulting or trying to strangle Venter, saying he could not remember anything about the night of her death.

He claimed he was not accountable for his actions because of a condition known as hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar).

Counsel for Van Ameron put it to Oosthuizen that it was "highly unlikely" that she would remember a domestic violence report three years later.

She said she remembered this very well because she implored Venter to lay a charge, but her senior told her she could not compel anyone to do so.

"I regard family violence as a very serious charge. I find it senseless that a woman should stay with a person who hurts her," the constable said.

"I felt very bad when I heard Jana Venter was dead, because the first time she was with me I could not do anything. I could not convince her to lay a charge."

Pathologist Shepiso Kekana testified that he found three bullet wounds in her body.

Venter had been shot at close range just below the ear, below her left armpit and in the chest.

A sister of Venter, Stephanie Kohler, burst into tears and left the court sobbing as Kekana described the wounds.

The trial continues on Thursday.

- SAPA