Murder accused applies to have all charges dropped
A Gqeberha man, accused of the murder of an elderly Walmer resident, has brought an application in the Gqeberha high court to have the charges against him withdrawn, claiming there is no objective evidence against him.
Kristen Goeda, along with Asheeka Abrahams, are accused of the brutal murder of Richard Adams, 87, whose naked body was discovered in the spare room of his First Avenue, Walmer, home on June 12 2021.
Goeda and Abrahams were arrested on the same day Adams’s body was discovered, after concerned relatives went to his home looking for him.
Yesterday, Goeda’s lawyer, Khaya Saziwa, told the court that there were no proven facts linking Goeda to the murder.
Saziwa said the state was relying on circumstantial evidence and that Abrahams had already confessed to the murder and did not implicate Goeda in it.
Goeda’s version was that when he arrived at Adams’s house, after Abrahams had asked him to go there, there was no sign of a dead body.
“[Goeda] did not know about the body [of Adams being] behind the locked door of a room,” Saziwa said.
The two face charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and rape, with an alternative charge of performing a sex act on a corpse.
At the start of the trial earlier this month, Abrahams pleaded guilty to the murder and robbery charges and not guilty to the rape.
After Abrahams’ plea was read into the record, the state indicated that it did not accept it, prompting the court to enter a not-guilty plea on all the counts.
Goeda pleaded not guilty to all the charges and did not offer a plea explanation.
According to Abrahams, she had stabbed the elderly man multiple times on June 11 2021 after a struggle between the two ensued after she performed massage services on him.
Abrahams claimed Adams had become aggressive towards her when she refused to perform sexual favours.
She said she stabbed him with a kitchen knife in his bedroom after he grabbed her from behind and forced himself on her.
Abrahams claimed she had dragged his body to another room, covered it with a blanket and locked the door.
She later contacted Goeda and they remained in the house, consuming drugs and alcohol, until they were found by Adams’s relatives.
State prosecutor Velile Makasana said the state opposed the application brought by Goeda, saying that the circumstantial evidence was strong enough to convict Goeda of accessory to murder after the fact.
Makasana said evidence by forensic expert Warrant Officer Phillip Bekker, who processed the scene, showed that there were no smear marks showing that Adams’s body was dragged to the other room.
Bekker had earlier testified that at least two people would have been required to move Adams’s body.
Judgment in the application is expected to be handed down today.