Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘I’m innocent,’ pleads Oliver
IT WAS a murder that rocked Cape Town. Five people were killed and five wounded during a bloody night in November 2007, in what became known as the Kewtown Massacre.
Now, 15 years later, after one of the main accused, Kurt Oliver, was sentenced to life imprisonment, he and his family are preparing to appeal the court’s findings because they say new evidence has come to light.
Oliver’s mother Desiree said, due to lockdown restrictions, she visited her son for the first time in prison two weeks ago.
Oliver is imprisoned at Malmesbury Prison and has spent time at Helderstroom Maximum Prison and Pollsmoor Prison during his sentence period. He is only eligible for parole in 2035, according to his family.
Oliver told his family he did not murder five people nor wound five others, but a man known to the family was allegedly responsible. The family now wants to appeal his sentence but is not in a position to do so financially.
In 2010, Oliver and his co-accused, Ryno Sass, were found guilty of all the charges relating to the incident. A third suspect, Brian Williams was acquitted. Sass was sentenced to 24 years for the murders, 10 for the attempted murders and three for the possession of a firearm and ammunition. He later appealed his sentence and was set free.
Oliver received life imprisonment for the murders and 10 years for the attempted murders, and three years for the possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Desiree and brother, Denzil Oliver, said they were preparing to appeal his sentence believing it was a case of mistaken identity. They added Oliver was not given an opportunity to take the stand in his defence and he had an alibi for the night of the shooting – he had been with his girlfriend.
They added police had found no gun residue on his clothing or hands.
“Why would my son go back to the scene of the crime if it was him, he even attended the one person’s janaza (burial) a day after the shooting, and that is where they arrested him. He had a bag of clothing with him which he was going to take to his aunty and he never slept at home but at a residence in the blocks, Kewtown, because he was dating a girl then and wore the same clothing of the day before.
“They took that clothing and tested for gunpowder and nothing was found on it. My son is 15 years inside prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Kurt was in block 32 that night and the shooting happened in block 28. He was at a girl’s home at the time. During the trial when he wanted to speak, the legal aid lawyer said he must not.”
Desiree said two weeks ago, Oliver told her he was innocent and was eager to appeal his sentence. “Kurt told me he is innocent and that the suspect was still out there and that this person is known to us. We want to appeal his sentence but we do not want legal aid but a private attorney, someone who can perhaps act pro bono. If my child is guilty, I will not stand in the way of the police. I will place them in the police’s hands. I have asked God for guidance as my child’s life cannot be thrown away like this,” she said.
Denzil said he knew from the start his brother was innocent – “he didn’t even know the person who planned this whole thing”.
Candice van Reenen, of the Department of Correctional Services, said the Oliver family should approach the National Prosecuting Authority if they had evidence they wished to present.
Weekend Argus also tried to contact some of the victims’ families, to no avail.