American murder accused fit for trial 0 A third psychiatric report of the second assessment on the mental state of one of the two Americans accused of murdering Andre Heckmair more than five years ago has found him fit to stand trial.The clinical-neuropsychological report, compiled by Willem J. Annandale, provisionally submitted as evidence against Marcus Kevin Thomas, stated that he attempted to distort his evaluation test results.
Judge Christie Liebenberg, after the cross-examination of the witness both by State advocate Antonia Verhoef and defence counsels Mbanga Siyomuinji Mbana and Dierderichs, postponed the matter to today for arguments.
Annandale, a clinical and counselling psychologist, stated this as certain in his assessment and added that previous assessments most likely came to the same result.
“From a neuropsychological perspective Thomas is most certainly fit to stand trial,” Annandale emphasised.
Thomas allegedly plotted, together with Kevin Townsend, and murdered André Heckmair in early 2011 in Windhoek.
They were arrested shortly after Heckmair was found shot in a parked vehicle in Klein Windhoek on 7 January 2011.
Thomas, after a failed jailbreak attempt, suffered from concussion after he fell from the security fence surrounding the Windhoek Central Prison.
Since then the trial has been embroiled by arguments and submissions concerning Thomas’s mental state.
Evidence has already been led that Thomas is guilty of malingering, or faking a mental disability, in order to escape the consequences of his actions.
Two psychiatrists earlier this year concluded that Thomas is mentally fit to stand trial.
Dr Reinhardt Sieberhagen, a Windhoek psychiatrist, and Professor Tuviah Zabow of the University of Cape Town both came to that conclusion in their examination of the accused.
They stated in their psychiatric reports that Thomas is not suffering from any mental defect and is able to understand court proceedings.
The experts were instructed to examine Thomas after a State psychiatrist in 2015 reported that he had a neurocognitive disorder and was not fit to stand trial.
That was attributed to a head injury he allegedly sustained in his 2014 fall from the prison fence.
Annandale yesterday said neuropsychological evaluation clearly found that the seriousness of the cognitive symptoms displayed by Thomas was not remotely in accordance with the symptoms of traumatic brain injury.
“A pattern of inconsistencies became apparent once the results of the test were analysed,” Annandale testified.
He said it became abundantly clear that this was a case of malingering.
FRED GOEIEMAN