Man gets bail a year after murder

AFTER more than a year in custody waiting for his trial date, the man accused of murdering Michael Asnak in September last year, was granted bail, on new facts, in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court.

Pescodia resident Vernon Kok, 20, will, however, be back in court for a trial date this morning after only a few days of freedom.

Kok, along with his co-accused, Thabang Brand, were arrested for the murder of Asnak at the end of September 2017 and while charges against his initial co-accused were subsequently withdrawn, Kok remained in custody until Friday’s successful application that resulted in his release on R2 000 bail.

In an affidavit read into evidence last Wednesday, Kok pointed out that he had already spent more than 12 months in custody waiting for his trial to commence, despite the fact that DNA analysis has been returned and that charges against Brand have been withdrawn.

He explained that when he was initially denied bail the State had argued that blood found on clothes and a knife, believed to have been used in the murder, possibly belonged to Asnak, a claim Kok denied at the time.

As his new application got under way, Kok told the court that the DNA results confirmed his earlier claim.

He further explained that Brand had also spent nearly a year in custody, only to see the murder charge against him withdrawn after no witnesses arrived to give testimony in court at his last appearance on September 4, 2018.

The investigating officer (IO), Sergeant Charles Gaboinewe, explained that the State had decided to withdraw the charge against Brand as evidence indicated that he had not used the knife on the day in question.

Before Wednesday’s adjournment, he further testified that while he had not been in court when the murder charge was withdrawn, he was aware of this development, adding that there was a chance that a charge of assault could still be brought against Brand.

As the IO continued his testimony on Friday, he told the court that two bloodied knives had been sent for DNA analysis after they were retrieved from a house where the two accused had fled, with residents in pursuit, following the alleged incident.

Kok’s clothes, including a T-shirt, jacket, trousers and shoes, were also sent for stains to be analysed and DNA tests concluded that this was not the blood of the deceased.

“There is a strong case against the accused,” said the IO. “Even if the DNA results exclude him, there were eyewitnesses who saw the whole incident. The exclusion does not necessarily mean he did not commit the offence.

“I’m opposing bail because it is possible that the accused will interfere with witnesses. It is also for the safety of the accused because at the first bail application the family and community wanted to react.”

While cross-examining Gaboinewe, Kok’s legal representative, Etienne Mathewson, pointed out to the IO that, regardless of eyewitness accounts of what had transpired on the night in question, there was still the possibility that these could in fact be unreliable, adding that an attack on the deceased would have left DNA evidence on the clothing of the accused.

“You weren’t there,” Mathewson put it to the IO. “There are only affidavits and you don’t know if they are true or not.”

Bail was fixed at R2 000. Kok will have to report to the Roodepan police station every Monday and Friday and must adhere to his court date.