Farmer convicted of murdering wife

AN ARANOS area farmer who has been standing trial in the Windhoek High Court over the gunshot death of his wife almost eight years ago is guilty of murder.

This was the verdict judge Naomi Shivute delivered in the trial of farmer Willem Visagie Barnard (64) this morning. Judge Shivute found that Barnard was the person who fired the shot that struck his wife, Anette Barnard (55), in the head, killing her, at their farm between Stampriet and Aranos during the night of 9 to 10 April 2010. The judge rejected Barnard's defence that he could not be held accountable for his alleged actions, due to the excessive drinking of alcohol and use of prescribed medication during the day preceding the shooting. Although Barnard had been intoxicated, he was still in control of his mental faculties, she found.