Tears flowed at the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday as Derick Kalmeyer was found guilty of the horrific murders of slain siblings Faith and Conray Adams.
The 28s gang member from Vredenburg, known as “Slang”, now faces life in the mang after Judge Pam Andrews rejected his version that someone else could have killed the children, saying he carried out his angry threats to their mother.
Kalmeyer went on trial last year for the murders of Faith and Conray, who were stabbed to death on 1 May 2019.
According to the State’s case, Kalmeyer, 54, was in a relationship with the children’s mother, Frizaan, and got into a heated argument with her and her friend Christolene Orion on the night of the murders.
The two women fled the hokkie out of fear, leaving their three children behind.
The women testified that Kalmeyer had become angry because Christolene had refused to have sex with his friend.
During the trial it was revealed that three-year-old Faith had been stabbed 19 times while 18-month-old Conray was stabbed 14 times and had skull fractures, which were caused by being flung through a glass window.
Kalmeyer subsequently pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of resisting arrest.
In her extensive judgement, Judge Andrews tackled various aspects of the trial, including the late DNA reports.
She found that the absence of the DNA evidence did not clear Kalmeyer when considering all the evidence.
Central to the case was the testimony of his sister Maria Fienies who denied in court that she stated in her statement to police that she saw her brother threw Conray through the window.
Andrews also highlighted the testimony of Christolene, who told the court she last saw Derick in the hokkie with the siblings as she returned to collect her own infant daughter after she and Frizaan had fled.
In addition, according to the evidence of a police officer who arrived at the house, Fienies told him her brother had stabbed the children.
The judge poked holes in Kalmeyer’s version of events, saying despite his portrayal as a loving father figure to the siblings, his actions on the fateful night show he was not the man he claimed to be.
She questioned why he would just leave the young children alone in the middle of the night (after their mother fled) and on his return failed to question where they were.
Andrews said: “He made no attempt to establish where the children were. The only inference is that he already knew that they were no longer [alive].
“It is furthermore apparent that he never questioned why he was being arrested at the crime scene that he created.
“Just because there are no eyewitnesses, it does not mean that the missing pieces of the puzzle cannot be found and looking at the mosaic of evidence.
“After considering the evidence in its totality, the court finds that the only inference that can be drawn, is that it is the accused who murdered Faith and Conray.
“The court rejects the accused’s version. He wanted the court to believe that someone else perpetrated this heinous and senseless acts on defenceless children.”
She said Kalmeyer took his frustration out on the children and found him guilty on two counts of murder, one count of resisting arrest, one count of assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm on Frizaan and acquitted him of the attempted murder of Orion.
After receiving his judgement, Kalmeyer turned to the Daily Voice and confidently said: “She is only an acting judge”.
Outside court, the children’s emotional ouma, Denise, said they were happy with the outcome.
She said: “We are happy but we are also disappointed about what he did. He was a friend of my husband and he knew my whole family. When we asked him if he loved the children when he was in prison he said: ‘Soe ’n bietjie’.
“But at court he said he loved them. Now what kind of father does that? We are emotional because we miss the children. They were only babies.”
The case has been postponed to Friday for sentencing procedures to commence.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za