Theunis Olivier was on Tuesday found guilty by the Cape High Court for the murder of six-year-old Steven Siebert.
Passing judgement, Judge Essa Moosa said the testimony given by the accused, the psychiatrist’s evaluation report as well as the statement submitted by the accused were enough to convict Olivier on all the charges.
”The court is satisfied that all the elements of the three charges have been established and therefore finds the accused guilty as charged.”
Olivier kidnapped, sodomised and murdered Siebert, whose body was found on Christmas Eve 2005 in dense bushes in the grounds of 30 Cordovan Street, Plettenberg Bay.
Shortly after his 2005 arrest, Olivier confessed before a lower court magistrate that he had abducted, sodomised and murdered the six-year-old.
However, he pleaded not guilty to all three charges, saying he was not of a sane mind when he committed the crimes and therefore could not be held responsible for his actions.
However, on Monday Olivier submitted a statement to the Cape High Court, admitting that he was of a sober and sane mind when he committed the crimes, and that he should be held accountable for his actions.
Judge Moosa said the accused’s submission that he was of a sane mind when he committed the crimes was supported by a psychiatric evaluation report that had declared him to be of ”a stable mind and fit to stand trial”.
Smartly dressed in a grey suit and a black shirt, Olivier, who had been in custody since his arrest in 2005, kept his head down as the judgement was read.
He avoided eye contact with Steven’s father, Thomas Siebert, who sat on his right.
The Zimbabwean national did not show any remorse as the judge read out the evidence linking him to the abduction, sodomy and murder of the six-year-old boy.
The case was postponed to Wednesday for sentencing. — Sapa