The Pretoria High Court had a chilling insight into the mind of a killer when a tape recording of the dying moments of his two victims was played as evidence on Tuesday.
Judge Johan Els sentenced self-confessed double killer Barend (Ben) Bieldt (61) to 36 years’ imprisonment — of which he effectively has to serve 26 years — for the March 2004 murders of his former wife, Naomi Hanekom, and her lawyer, Pierre Els.
The judge described Bieldt, a father of six children, as a greedy man who had shot not only his former wife, but also an innocent attorney who was only doing his job.
Bieldt and family members of his victims wept while listening to the tape recording, in which he is heard first arguing with his former wife and her attorney about the money he thought he was owed out of their estate.
He then lost his temper, swore at them and screamed that he would ”fucking kill them”, while firing numerous shots.
Even after two bodies were heard falling, he fired yet a further shot and then screamed, ”I’m going to fucking shoot you, you bastards,” before leaving the room.
Bieldt told criminologist Dr Irma Labuschagne he could not remember the actual incident and could only vaguely recall hearing shots.
His next memory was of seeing the two bodies lying at his feet and him standing over them with his revolver in his hand.
He also remembered that he had at one stage switched off the light in his wife’s office — where the murders took place — ”because the scene was gruesome” before phoning his son and the police.
”I think I was under so much pressure and had been humiliated so much for three years that I just cracked.
”Now, after I’ve been treated for almost a year, I look back and cannot believe what I did. It feels just like an awful dream in which I’m being trapped,” he told Labuschagne.
The court heard that Bieldt and his former wife were locked in a bitter battle about the division of their estate after their divorce in 2002.
In terms of their divorce settlement, Hanekom (who remarried after their divorce) gave him money for a car and paid him R7 000 per month for six months. He was also allowed to stay on in their house for six months.
She obtained a protection order against him after their divorce because of his threats to kill and assault her. She also had to get an eviction order to get him out of the house.
He was supposed to leave the house on the day after the murders and had arranged a meeting with his ex-wife, her attorney and his attorney.
When his attorney did not arrive, he tried to reach a settlement, pleading with them ”to treat him humanely”, as his wife had left him ”with nothing”.
A heated argument followed, during which Bieldt demanded R1,5-million from the estate and Els offered him R433 000.
Passing sentence, Judge Els said it was clear that Bieldt’s marital problems had revolved mainly around financial disputes and that he had been driven by financial concerns on that fateful day.
He demanded more than R1-million, even though his own attorney had advised him that his share was worth less than the R433 000 he was offered.
However, he was not happy with the offer or the eviction order and when he did not get his way, proceeded to shoot his former wife and her attorney.
The judge said the problems between Bieldt and his wife could not be seen as mitigation for a lighter sentence. However, he found that the murders had not been planned and that life imprisonment was not applicable. — Sapa