BEAUREGARD TROMP
A Benoni courtroom stood on the brink of open warfare as the parents of a murdered and raped 20-year-old came face to face with her alleged killer.
In the hushed silence, the packed courtroom could hear the heavy footfalls of accused Jurgen Vandekeere landing long before he emerged from the holding cells below the Benoni Magistrate’s Court. With each of the eight steps, the gallery leaned closer to the dock.
As Vandekeere, with closely cropped hair and an angular jaw, emerged into the courtroom, women gasped, while others cried.
Vandekeere was appearing in connection with the murder of Chantelle Barnard. She was dropping off keys at her landlord’s home in Benoni on Friday when she went missing.
Later that night, her mother discovered her naked and mutilated body in the house occupied by Vandekeere.
Chantelle’s mother Suzette arrived in court late because she had returned from identifying her daughter’s body at a mortuary, where she had witnessed the injuries, including a spliced lip and bruised face.
“ Jou donnerse bliksem(You damn scoundrel),” shouted Suzette as she entered the courtroom, pelting Vandekeere with rubbish lying on the floor.
“You won’t even turn around because you know what you did,” she spat out at Vandekeere, who sat unmoved, his broad back to the eyes focused on him.
Suzette discovered her daughter’s body in a bedroom, her throat slit and underwear strewn around her lifeless body.
In the front row of the public gallery yesterday, Chantelle’s 2.2m-tall brother Jacques sat staring at Vandekeere.
Next to him sat Chantelle’s boyfriend, Brandon Ackerman, feet tapping impatiently. Later, outside the courtroom, he would say: “Must get him. Must get him.”
In her diary, Chantelle had written of her overwhelming love for Ackerman and noted his acts of devotion to her – like massaging her feet – that endeared him to her even further.
Magistrate Almarie Schutte told Vandekeere that should the State prove he had planned to kill Chantelle, he would automatically be sentenced to life imprisonment.
The onus would also be on him to provide exceptional circumstances as to why he should receive bail.
“Yes!” came a hardly muted shout from the gallery.
Vandekeere replied in hushed tones to questions put to him.
During a short break in proceedings, the family were led out of the courtroom by angry and concerned supporters.
Chantelle’s paternal grandfather Piet and his brother Frans walked from their seats in the public gallery until they were standing directly in front of Vandekeere.
Until then, the 33-year-old accused, dressed in a grey fleece pullover, blue shirt and tie, had effectively managed to evade all eye contact with his many accusers who packed the courtroom.
“I just wanted to make sure I imprinted his dial on my brain,” said Frans.
The only member of Vandekeere’s family present at court was sector Community Policing Forum chairman Johan Vandekeere, who was clearly in the Barnard camp.
Since the Friday incident, he has had to endure numerous phone calls, with people mistaking him for his cousin Jurgen.
Outside courtroom 2, defence counsel Muhammad Karolia confided that he had already had to endure death threats for representing Vandekeere.
“But I suppose that’s part of the job,” said Karolia, laughing nervously as he stood surrounded by Chantelle’s family and friends.
The case was postponed to April 20 for a bail application.