The 32-year-old man stands accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering the girl in the PG Bison forest on August 31. Booysen pleaded not guilty to all the charges. He first appeared in court on Monday, May 19 and the trial is expected to come to an end on Thursday, May 29 when the presiding judge, James Yekiso and his two assessors will present their final decision. On Monday, May 26, the state prosecuter Morné Julies and the defence lawyer André Kleynhans present their arguments.
Julies stated that the accused admitted that even though he was drunk, he was fully conscious and knew exactly what he was doing on that ill-fated day last year.
Julies said that the crimes committed were pre-meditated. He explained that the girl and her family lived in impoverished conditions. Her mother passed away two years ago and her father mows lawns twice a week. She had two brothers.
“How much money can the father possibly make? A lot of times his cousin has to give them food. The accused took advantage of the girl’s need by luring her away with the promise of buying her hot potato chips and giving her R10. They never reached the shop. When the accused took her into the forest, he knew what he was going to do to her,” Julies argued.
There were no witnesses to testify for Booysen. Apart from the victim’s blood on his jacket, his own blood was found on his trousers and boxer shorts, indicating that he had injured himself during his brutal act.
When the Knysna-Plett Herald visited the accused's mother Margaret Booysen (56) at her home in Rheenendal on Saturday, May 24, she burst into tears at the mention of her son’s name.
Booysen has one sister, Elizabeth Tities (44) who was also present at the time. Tities said that her mother had not stopped crying since the incident. She said that they were both “very disappointed” by what had happened. Her mother suffered a stroke two years ago and her health has rapidly deteriorated since her son’s arrest.
Tities said that her brother used to be a shy, gentle boy, but he changed after being incarcerated for allegedly raping a woman at the age of 11. She said that she believed he was innocent at the time. Tities believed that he had been emotionally scarred while being held at various juvenile facilities. “Who knows what happened to him there,” she asked rhetorically. She said he had been taken from one place to the next.
Tities confided that she felt somewhat guilty about what had happened. She recalled that when her brother returned home after serving his sentence, he began experiencing what appeared to be psychotic episodes. He also attempted to commit suicide on two occasions. He was eventually prescribed strong medication at the local health clinic, where both Tities and the consulting nursing sister believed that her brother needed help and had to be admitted to a mental health facility.
But when Booysen refused to go, Tities neglected to return to the clinic to collect his medication, for four years. She lamented that the crime might have been prevented had he taken his medication and she blamed herself for that.
Derrick 'Apie' Marneville visiting the grave of his nine-year-old daughter, Rosaline 'Paulatjie' Philander on Saturday, May 24. Photo: Christel Riley Halse.
Fredeline Muller (9) at the place where her cousin, 'Paulatjie' Philander was brutally raped and murdered in Rheenendal. The delicately built Philander was the same age as Muller when her body was found in the PG Bison forest last August. Photo: Christel Riley Halse.
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