INLSA
Tavira
In a small voice Newlands East woman Astrid Tavira testified in the regional court yesterday that she had smiled and said “yes” when her boyfriend asked if she wanted her mother dead.
However, she said she did not take him seriously.
Charged with the murder of her mother in August last year, Tavira, 20, was testifying in her trial before regional court magistrate Nanette Otto.
Her mother, Freda Tavira, 50, was found strangled and raped in her New Dawn Park, Newlands East, home in August last year.
Astrid’s boyfriend, Waleed Karriem, who is also her first cousin, pleaded guilty to murdering and raping his aunt. He is serving a life sentence.
Karriem said in his guilty plea that he had killed Freda so that Tavira could inherit from her mother’s estate and pay off their debts.
During her testimony yesterday, Tavira said she had been aware that she was the sole beneficiary of her mother’s estate. However, she denied that she had wanted her mother dead.
While Tavira had initially been charged with murder, prosecutor Calvin Govender said yesterday that the State was proceeding with a charge of conspiracy to commit murder.
Karriem had refused to testify against Tavira, and the State is relying on a statement she had made to police after the murder.
Yesterday Tavira, who has pleaded not guilty, testified that she had said yes to Karriem because she believed he was not serious about the murder plot.
“I did not take him seriously. I said yes just to change the conversation. He was an angry person and he was always making empty threats.
“When he used to get into arguments with people, he would say that he wanted to kill them. He even threatened to kill his mother. He was also on drugs.”
She said that Karriem had spoken about killing her family a day before the murder.
“He said he needed money to pay his debts and he wanted to kill our family.
“Then on the morning of the murder, he said he wants to kill my mother.”
When she found her mother was dead, she was shocked and confused, she said. “I got to the house and it was locked and my mother’s bakkie was gone.
“I phoned Waleed and he told me that the deed was done and my mother was dead. But I did not tell the police what he said immediately. I was confused and wanted to protect Waleed and myself.”
She admitted that she helped police to find Karriem after they told her that a witness had seen a man leave in her mother’s bakkie.
“The officer told me they needed to find Waleed. I then phoned Waleed and asked him where he was. I then told the police everything that had happened.”
She said she was filled with disgust after she was told details of her mother’s murder.
“I was hurt and upset. I have not spoken to Waleed since. I want nothing to do with him.”
The case was adjourned to next month.
Tavira is out on bail.
