Staff Reporter
“I KNOW why you are looking for me, I killed my baby.”
These were the words of Lucia Vapeni Boois, uttered to a police officer when she was found hiding in the veldt, lying underneath a tree on Farm Bucholtzbrunn near Bethanie, days after she had murdered her one-year-old son, Amare Boois, by stabbing him with a sharp object on 12 January 2023.
His little body was subsequently discovered in a shallow grave on the same farm, buried face down with a Bible on his back and some of his baby items burnt next to the grave.
Boois, a former police officer, was this week found guilty by High Court Judge Philanda Christiaan on one count of murder as well as one count of defeating the course of justice. The judge stated that admissions made by the accused upon her arrest, forensic evidence, and eyewitness testimonies assisted the state in proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Boois killed her one-year-old son with direct intent (dolus directus).
The judge noted that, although a psychiatric report recorded a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), the psychiatrist found that at the time of the alleged offences, Boois was capable of appreciating the wrongfulness of her conduct and of acting in accordance with such appreciation, albeit with diminished responsibility.
Judge Christiaan said that Boois had been residing with her mother in Swakopmund, was emotionally volatile—shifting from talkativeness to isolation—and was financially dependent due to being unemployed.
The mother of Boois testified that the accused had left home after a violent altercation and had thereafter gone with the infant to Farm Bucholtzbrunn.
“Linda Niklaaste, a farmer at Groot Swartkop, testified that she observed the accused walking alone with a baby, carrying a bottle and a bag. Using binoculars, she watched the accused move between the railway line and the farm boundary. She later saw the shallow grave being uncovered. Her testimony placed the accused in possession of the child and traced her movements in the veldt,” Judge Christiaan said.
She added that another witness, Willem Fredericks, a resident of Farm Bucholtzbrunn as well, testified that he received a report of a strange woman asking for water.
“He encountered the accused under a tree, described her clothing, and later followed footprints to the shallow grave and a burnt area. There he found baby shoes, a jacket, and a wire loop,” the judge said.
Judge Christiaan stated that the cumulative effect of the eyewitness testimonies placed the accused in the veldt in sole possession of the child, traced her movements across the terrain, and linked her directly to the vicinity where the shallow grave and burnt items were discovered.
She added that the lead investigating officer in the case, Detective Chief Inspector Isak Nankies Anton, stationed at Keetmanshoop Police Station under the Serious Crime Unit, attended the scene on 12 January 2023, where he was briefed by Constable Bloodstaan, who had removed the body of the deceased.
“On 23 January 2023, Chief Inspector Anton conducted a search for the accused, guided by information from Ms Linda Niklaaste. He traced sandal prints from the scene into a riverbed, noting stretches where the accused had walked barefoot or crawled, until locating her approximately nine kilometres away lying under a tree. She was found barefoot, with blue and yellow sandals beside her that matched the prints traced from the scene. These were collected as exhibits. Upon approach, the accused spontaneously stated: ‘I know why you are looking for me, I killed my baby.’ When asked her name, she identified herself as Lucia. Chief Inspector Anton observed self-inflicted cuts on her inner elbows, and after cautioning her and explaining her rights, she further remarked: ‘I sent my child to a better place,’” Judge Philanda recounted, referencing eyewitness testimonies.
