Ex-policeman guilty of conspiracy to commit murder
In Carr's plea bargain statement, he alleges that Ms Venter and Mr Schoeman would have paid him R10 000 to murder Mr Venter. The motive for the murder was said to be so Ms Venter, who is the sole heir of her husband's estate, could inherit a considerable amount after his death.
A Middelburg resident admitted that he planned to kill a Leslie farmer in exchange for money.
Paul Carr, ex-policeman, has pleaded guilty in the Leslie Court recently to a charge of conspiracy to commit murder .
Carr was arrested in October last year, after his alleged target was warned that something was amiss when his dogs began barking close to midnight. Jacques Venter managed to call for help. Neighbouring farmers rushed to the house and managed to catch Carr on the premises. He has been in custody at the Bethal Correctional Services facility until his recent release after entering into a plea bargain with the state.
Carr was found guilty on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder, for which he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years. This means that Carr will not go to jail, as long as he is not found guilty of a similar offence in the next five years. As part of the plea bargain, he will act as a state witness in the case against Juanita Venter and Omega Schoeman, who allegedly ordered the failed hit.
Ms Venter and Mr Schoeman were arrested in Secunda two weeks ago.
In Carr’s plea bargain statement, he alleges that Ms Venter and Mr Schoeman would have paid him R10 000 to murder Mr Venter. The motive for the murder was said to be so Ms Venter, who is the sole heir of her husband’s estate, could inherit a considerable amount after his death.
The Venter couple is currently locked in a divorce battle after Ms Venter moved out of her house, leaving her husband and children behind, and in with Mr Schoeman in May last year.
On the night that Carr was arrested, he was found in possession of a knife and hammer, dressed in all-black, with a balaclava on. He also had keys to a security gate in the house, Mr Venter’s car keys and a plan of the house, allegedly given to him by Ms Venter and Mr Schoeman.
Mr Venter told a national paper that he was convinced that his murder would have been made to look like a farm attack.
• Carr, a former member of the police’s dog unit in Secunda and later Middelburg, is currently facing a charge of culpable homicide in the Middelburg Magistrate’s Court.
The charge came after the death of Middelburg resident Mapule Sereto, during an accident in SADC Street in October 2013 in which Carr, driving a motorbike, was involved. The matter was only placed on the roll this year, after instruction by the National Prosecuting Authority. His next court appearance will be in September when the matter is on the roll for trial.
• In April this year, Carr was found not guilty of murder in the Seshego Regional Court in Limpopo. His legal representative, Andries Rheeder, told the Middelburg Observer’s sister paper, the Polokwane Review, that his client was discharged due to a lack of evidence. Carr was charged with the murder of Justin de Freitas, who died of a stab wound at a biker rally at the Soetdorings Country Club in Westenburg in July 2015.
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