"Magazine hill",
they call this place.
Dead end.
Mmm.
Why would labuschagne
and the other men
in the minibus
have come up here?
He claims
he can't remember any of it.
So, Leon's bakkie
was parked here.
He left the keys
in the ignition,
then he ran that way.
The minibus taxi
belonging to
the football team was...
Came to rest here.
Point-blank range.
The gun they found
was registered in Leon's name.
He dragged
the bodies over there,
then he lined them up.
Wait. He lined the bodies up?
Why would he do that?
None of it makes any sense.
Oh.
You can see
the prison from over here,
where he worked.
Who's the judge?
Van zyl, the hanging judge.
The two of you should get on
like chalk and cheese.
Do you think
the state should kill people?
Majority support
the death penalty.
The majority
supported
burning at the stake,
witch dunking, crucifixion.
Sit!
Leon, this is John weber.
He's a senior advocate.
He's been asked to defend you.
I've been asked to,
but I don't
particularly want to.
Then why don't you go home?
Because your case is so bad,
no one else will take it.
I already told you,
i don't want you to defend me.
I don't want to talk.
I don't want to
see you, either.
Well, we've
fulfilled our obligations.
Let's go.
Hang on.
I've had enough of this cock.
I've spent a shitload of time
working on this case!
Listen to me, Leon.
You might be feeling
sorry for yourself now,
but you're gonna feel
a hell of a lot worse
when you get a death sentence.
I met your wife,
your little daughter, Esme.
When you last see her?
Six months ago?
I read in your file that
you were a warder in
the prison service.
I suggest you find out
what's in store for you.
Speak to the warders
when you go back to your cell,
ask them what
happens on death row.
I know what
happens on death row.
I worked there.
When this happened,
you were working
on death row at
maximum security prison?
Surely, you were too young.
I started working
there over two years ago.
On gallows duty?
Leave me alone.
Nobody gets away
with killing seven people.
Unless they're the police,
of course.
Bad break, my boy.
There's no defense
for an attack like that.
No, the guy's as good as dead.
Good serve, Andrew!
Paul, stand further back,
you get a better
chance to get to the ball!
Look at it this way, John.
Everyone gets a bad
case now and then.
You just got a hopeless one.
With soldiers who
return from combat,
a minority suffer
mental breakdown
after one
traumatic experience.
But only a very small minority
avoid breakdown
after prolonged exposure.
Which is what
this would have been.
In fact,
he reminds me of
veterans I've treated.
I'd say he's in
a similar state
of emotional collapse.
So, what you're saying,
as far as
the prosecution is concerned,
is that your tests
don't prove mental breakdown,
but also don't rule
out the possibility
that he could be
a racist or a psychopath.
My opinion?
Something triggered
a violent response.
Any idea what that
trigger might be?
I'm afraid not.
So, it follows, Dr.
schlebusch,
that there might
actually not be a trigger.
That's correct.
The trial of Leon labuschagne,
the man who shot
dead seven members
of a mamaloni football club,
starts in the pretoria
high court this week.
Human rights advocate,
John weber,
who's defending labuschagne,
is well known internationally
as an opponent of
capital punishment.
According to police sources,
labuschagne's
motives for the shooting
are unclear,
and any links to
right wing organizations
is pure speculation.
To date,
labuschagne has refused
to make a statement.
We won't have
many chances, Leon.
Once you're in
the witness box,
we'll be prohibited
from speaking to you
until you finish
giving evidence.
So, you've gotta
help us now, man.
Just give us a reason
for why things
happened the way they did.
There you have it.
He's been briefed
on how to respond
to the judge
and the prosecutor
and how to
answer our questions.
I don't know
what else I can do.
Stand up!
Hold it!
Labuschagne, look at this.
Mr. wierda obtained this
register from
the prisons department.
It lists
the names of all the men
hanged last year.
You must've participated
in some of these executions.
All of them.
Repeat that?
I was at all the executions.
According to this list,
164 men were
executed last year.
A record number.
If that's what it says.
Why were you present
at every execution?
Pierre.
Aye, John.
How is it?
Good.
Uh, could you let
me sit this side?
If you don't mind.
Yeah, sure.
Thanks.
So, how's my sister?
Surprised to
hear you're in town.
So, what's this business
you wanna discuss?
Pierre, um,
what do you know about the men
who work on death row?
Not much.
Well, I happen to know
that they take
part in executions,
but what I don't know is,
what kind of person does that?
What makes
someone take on the job
of killing someone?
John, I can't talk about that.
You should know that by now.
I don't mean you.
This is a boy they put
on gallows duty at 17,
for god's sake.
And you get another shot
at the evil system
you hate so much, eh?
Pierre,
they threw this boy into hell
and he went out
and shot seven men.
Now, he won't,
or can't speak
a word to defend himself.
You have contacts
inside the prison system.
They'll talk to you.
All right,
I'll make some inquiries,
but you're wasting your time.
'Cause the guys
who do what he does,
they don't talk about it.
They never do.
You should tell him
to keep his head up.
It's the victims' families,
they staring at him.
That's his parents,
his sister antoinette.
At about 18:00,
on a deserted road
near the magazine hill quarry,
the accused forced
the minibus in which
the deceased were
traveling from the road,
then shot all seven
victims with a pistol.
Detective,
is this pistol, which is
registered in
the name of the accused,
the firearm that was used
to fire the bullets
found at the scene?
This is the pistol, m'lord.
That's all I have for
this witness, my lord.
Mr. weber?
No questions, my lord.
What are you doing?
I'll explain later.
The bakkie found
parked next to the body,
that too was registered
in the name of the accused?
Yes.
According to your report,
the vehicle would not start.
Correct.
He was forced to flee on foot.
That's all, my lord.
No questions, my lord.
Why didn't you
cross-examine anyone?
We can't argue facts.
If we admit everything,
we deny them the opportunity
for a parade of
emotional witnesses,
and rob
the case of its impact.
So, after a couple of days,
they'll have nothing left.
They found him,
they found the gun,
they found the bakkie.
That's all they've got.
That's all?
What have we got?
Leon is nearly comatose,
Dr. schlebusch will
barely speak to him...
If it goes that way tomorrow,
gentlemen,
we'll soon be
finished on our side.
Good night.
Good night.
And you were going to say,
a senior advocate
who hasn't handled
a murder case in 15 years?
I don't know
what you said
to him last time,
but he was grouchy
when he came home.
More than usual?
I'm the one who has
to live with him, John.
Here, take that.
Seems to me he's
guilty of murder
and you're trying to turn it
into a political case.
Well, every case involving
the death sentence
is a political case.
Could've just been road rage,
you ever think of that?
He shot seven people 13 times.
A very bad case of road rage.
The only thing I've
accomplished so far
is to keep our
strategy a secret,
but that ends when
the defense starts.
Well,
see if this is of any use.
What is it?
It's a table of drops.
How much do you weigh?
About 70 kilos.
So, you divide 840 foot-pounds
by the weight of the prisoner,
in this case 70,
which means that you,
John weber,
would need five feet,
three inches of rope
for a nice,
clean break.
He was very good
at it, apparently.
They relied on him,
calculating the drops.
And how do you know this?
You don't wanna ask.
What else, Pierre?
What struck me is
that these warders,
they get to know the men
that they have to hang.
They're their caretakers,
then they haul them out,
string them up.
And this struck you, why?
In a war,
you don't see
the enemy as people.
You're shooting at uniforms,
not men.
The only thing worse
than killing a stranger
is killing someone you know.
Strangers are hard enough.
You have to go
through all of these?
Yes, these 32 men
who were hanged in
the last two weeks
Leon was there.
And what are we
looking for exactly?
It might be useful
to find out something
about the men he hanged
in the days
before the shooting.
He developed a very
close relationship
with these men.
How would you know that?
My brother-in-law has contacts
in the prison system.
He's a warder?
Intelligence. Special forces.
He spent three years
fighting in Angola.
What's that got to do
with anything, John?
Well, for one thing,
it means he knows
first-hand what
killing does to a person.
I'm sorry,
are we assembling evidence
to support your
political pre-conception
about capital punishment,
or are we trying to discover
the extenuating circumstances
that might save Leon
from a death sentence?
Something must have happened
to labuschagne toward the end.
These men all had
reasons for killing.
He must've had a reason.
We need to find
out what it is.
So, we're down to
wild hunches, then.
Look,
i understand that a defense
based on complete
mental breakdown
doesn't succeed very often.
But it's all we've
got at this stage.
Unless you have a better idea.
Do you have a better idea?
No.
Um...
If it pleases my lord
and my lord's
learned assessors.
Yes, yes, carry on.
This is an extraordinary case
in which the evidence
for the prosecution
is undisputed
and the case for
the prosecution is,
in a way, also
the case for the defense.
On a murder charge,
the prosecution has to prove
that the act was
both unlawful and intentional.
We intend to prove
that there was no act
to which the law attaches
legal consequences.
Are you
suggesting there was no act
when we have seven bodies?
My lord is
entitled to be skeptical.
The prosecution
has been at pains
to explain what has happened.
We intend to explain
why these events happened
and whether the accused
can be held
criminally responsible.
Well,
you'd better explain
very carefully
what the defense is,
as I'm at
a loss to understand.
How can you say
there was no act
when you've admitted that
the accused killed
the seven deceased?
With respect,
my lord, the events
at the quarry
are not in dispute,
but the brutality,
the scale of the events,
seven fit young men
killed by a single individual
calls for closer scrutiny.
The prosecution has adduced
no evidence of a motive,
and there appears to be none.
We intend to look
at the accused's
working conditions
on death row,
inside maximum
security prison,
and the events
that took place there
prior to
the incidents at the quarry
in order to find
the reason for his actions.
Actions we believe
were unconscious
and triggered by
his traumatic
experiences as a warder.
So,
the defense is asserting
that the accused's
working conditions
triggered these actions,
that they were involuntary,
and therefore not
punishable by law.
Correct, my lord.
This raises
matters of state security, Mr.
weber.
If I allow this,
i don't want any names used.
Not of officials or inmates.
Not one.
Listen, labuschagne,
when you're on the stand,
you'll talk,
you'll do as you're told,
or you'll soon find yourself
back in your gallows
with a noose
around your own neck.
Mr. labuschagne,
please tell
the court how old you were
when you first
joined the prison service.
And why did you join?
If you join
the police or prisons,
you don't have
to go to the army.
Why did you wish to
avoid the military?
They sent you to
Angola to fight.
Were you aware
that the warders
at maximum security prison
performed gallows duties?
No.
So, you had no idea
what your duties would be
when you first
arrived at maximum.
No.
Could you tell the court
about your first day there?
I was briefed on
the importance of secrecy.
I was told not
to speak to anyone
about anything to
do with the work
we were doing
inside the prison.
And if I did,
I'd be disciplined.
My lord,
is this detail necessary?
We are here to shed light
on what occurred
on magazine hill,
not to make public
the internal functions
of a government institution
whose activities
might be confidential,
perhaps even secret.
My lord, the time
the accused spent
working on death row
is central to
the defense's case
regarding his state of mind
that day on magazine hill.
We intend to lead
detailed testimony
about
the accused's state of mind,
in particular,
his circumstances at work.
I'll allow it, Mr.
weber, provisionally.
Continue, please.
What did you
experience on your first day
at maximum, Mr. labuschagne?
I was to accompany
the warrant officer
to see seven men on the rope.
"On the rope?"
It's what we
say for any prisoner
under the death sentence.
These seven were
going up the next day
to the gallows.
Will you please tell the court
what happened
when you went
to see these men?
The warrant officer said
I'd have to pick one
as I'd have to
escort one of the men
to be hanged the next day.
So, you were told
you were gonna help
hang one of these
men the very next day.
Sir, I'd rather you
picked one for me, sir.
The new boy must pick one.
That's how it works.
Hmm?
Makhandla.
Pick makhandla.
What's his name?
What's his name?
Makhandla!
Did the warrant
officer tell you
what you were to
do the next day
as an escort at a hanging?
Just said to learn by
following and watching others.
That was your first day?
Yes.
Tell the court what happened
on your second day.
Executions are at 7:00 A.M.
We came for them at 6:00.
Come on.
Come.
Were there any problems?
Were there any problems,
Mr. labuschagne?
No.
Everyone just does
what they're told, do they?
They're taught to obey.
What happens if
they don't obey?
Come on.
Do you have anything to say
before the order of
the court is carried out?
Do you have anything to say
before the order of
the court is carried out?
Do you have anything to say
before the order of
the court is carried out?
Do you have anything to say
before the order of
the court is carried out?
Do you have anything to say
before the order of
the court is carried out?
Do you have anything to say
before the order of
the court is carried out?
I didn't
wanna look at the rope,
but I could smell it.
It was like a wet doormat.
A sound was in my ears,
like water.
I could feel my arm shaking,
but I didn't know
if it was from me
or from the prisoner.
Tell us in your own words
what you observed.
Mr. labuschagne,
the court is waiting.
Tell us what you
remember from that day.
The noise.
What did you see?
Don't hold on so
tight next time,
or he'll pull
you down with him.
Then you'll look
like a puss, won't you?
Did the warrant officer
say anything to
you after this?
I was told
not to talk about the hanging,
any hanging, to anyone.
Did he say anything else?
That I would
be doing this job
two or three
times every two weeks.
Two or three
times every two weeks.
Did he offer any advice,
or counseling?
No.
Did he provide any training
for the work you were to do?
No.
Had you been assessed
or screened in any way
to ensure you were
suitable for this job?
No.
Did the warrant
officer give you a choice,
whether you were willing
to do this work, or not?
No.
Remind the court
as to how many days
you'd been working at maximum
when you were called upon
to hang these men.
One.
And you were how old?
I said, I was 17.
Still 17.
Mr. weber.
Um...
Would now be a convenient time
to adjourn, my lord?
The court adjourns.
Mr. weber?
Sorry.
You asked if i
believed Leon when he said
he had no memory
of the shooting.
Memory is
an intellectual function.
When you're completely swamped
by emotion,
the intellect can shut down.
So, memory shuts down, too.
They're upset.
They don't like seeing him
put through the wringer.
They'll like it even less
if he ends up on death row.
You'll have to force Leon
to recollect
things that are painful.
Break him down,
make him cry even.
Then he'll talk.
Hell, that's the problem.
We have no idea
what he'll talk about.
We're plunging
down a dark tunnel
with no idea what's
on the other side.
What's on the other side
may be the reason
why it happened.
And if that reason is
racial or political,
how's it gonna help
him beat the rope?
How can you defend
that man, Mr. weber?
Ma'am, I despise
killing of any kind,
lawful or unlawful.
What about my son?
Thabo mokoena.
Why should he
get away with it?
She is right, sir.
That man must pay
for what he's done!
Look at this one.
"Eben christiaan coetzee."
Same age as Leon.
Had a daughter.
From a good home.
Mild mannered by all accounts.
Participated in
the rape of a black woman
after pressure from
the others involved.
All of whom were older.
Then he snaps,
goes on a rampage,
and takes the lead
in killing the victim.
Why?
I wouldn't know.
Was he trying to
prove something
to the others?
Was that the reason?
We won't ever know. He's dead.
They hanged him.
Yes.
And Leon was his escort.
He specifically requested
Leon be his escort.
Why?
I'm going home, John.
We still have
the case
histories to go through.
No. We're off on
some tangent here.
These profiles,
they're not gonna tell us
anything about Leon,
or why he did what he did.
That woman,
the one who lost her son,
Mrs. mokoena, she's right.
You sit there
wringing your hands
over the death penalty,
studying the case files
of the men who were hanged.
But no one ever
remembers the victims.
Like this guy.
Him and his accomplice
stabbed
the victim numerous times.
No one remembers
that poor man
running for his life.
Or this guy,
this bastard who burned
his victim to death
in the boot of her car.
No one remembers
that poor woman's suffering.
Or any of these women
in any of these cases,
who were raped and
strangled and beaten,
had their heads
bashed in, stabbed,
drowned in their own blood
in the arms of a son!
No one remembers
their suffering.
And who organizes a protest,
or delivers a paper at
an international conference!
The reason is that
these men are animals.
And when there's
a gang involved,
reason goes out
the window altogether.
The only thing
you can do with them
is to get rid
of them for good.
Pedrie, there's...
There's something here.
The relationships
that Leon formed
with the men he hanged
have to had an impact on him.
I need to go, John.
Good night.
Who's that?
If that's who I think it is,
we're in for a rough ride.
Please,
could you inform the court
as to how many
men were executed
in your final year at maximum.
Please consult
the execution register,
which has been
submitted as evidence.
164 hangings
in a single year,
which was a record, I believe.
Yes.
And you were present
when these men were admitted
and you were also present
when they were executed.
Yes.
At all
the executions that year.
Yes.
So, you would've come to know
these people
during their stay,
or should I say,
"your stay at maximum?"
Yes.
How well did you
get to know these men?
We spent all day with them.
So, would you say that,
in some cases,
you developed relationships
with some of these men?
Let's pick
a prisoner at random.
If you look down the list.
Eben christiaan coetzee,
for example.
We object, my lord.
Once again, my learned friend
is straying into matters
which are
deliberately kept confidential
out of respect
for the families
of the executed prisoners.
Yes, Mr. weber. I've asked you
to keep the names out of this.
My lord, we have to use a name
in this instance
as the prisoner,
before he was hanged,
may have developed
a relationship
with the accused.
Further, my lord,
the evidence supplied
and the names thereon
are a matter of public record,
not confidential at all.
I've given
the defense a lot of leeway
in this case,
far more than i
ever imagined I would
in a case like this.
I expect the same solicitude
from the defense in future.
Mr. labuschagne, how well
did you know the prisoner,
eben christiaan coetzee?
I read the Bible to him.
To any prisoner
who requested it.
Eben was 19
years old, correct?
Yes.
Eben had a wife and daughter,
and I believe
you have a daughter,
don't you?
Esme.
You met his wife and daughter.
They came to say
goodbye to him.
I walked them
back to the car park
through the prison garden.
And they thanked me
for looking after him.
You believed
that eben should
have been reprieved?
Other men were reprieved,
so, why shouldn't he
have been reprieved?
Did you tell him?
I would've been dismissed.
By the warrant officer?
Over here.
Order!
Yes.
So, you felt
eben should have
been reprieved,
but instead,
you were his escort
and you helped hang him.
Yes.
What were your
duties as eben's escort?
I measured his weight,
height,
neck.
What was the purpose
of all these measurements?
To calculate
the length of the drop.
The length of rope required
in order to assure
he died instantly.
You were responsible for that.
Yes.
If you calculated
eben's drop incorrectly,
he might not
have died instantly.
He might've suffered.
Yes.
Quite a lot of responsibility,
isn't it?
How long can it
take for a man to die
from strangulation,
hanging there
with his neck broken,
but enough oxygen
to allow
conscious brain activity?
If you left him hanging there,
without hauling
him back up again,
it could take as
long as 15 minutes.
Rather like torture, isn't it?
Mr.
weber, I'm warning you.
This is not
the time nor the place
for a debate on
the death penalty.
As my lord pleases.
Mr. labuschagne,
please tell the court
how you felt personally,
measuring eben's neck,
when you'd gotten
to know him so well
and felt he
should not be hanged.
I didn't feel anything.
What about when you were
on the gallows next to eben,
and the trap door opened?
What went
through your mind then?
I don't know what you mean.
What thoughts
did you experience?
None.
When you met eben
and his little girl,
you were having
problems at home,
weren't you?
Your drinking and fighting
had resulted in a separation
from your wife, magda,
and your own
little girl, Esme.
Mr. labuschagne!
Nothing!
I felt nothing.
I thought nothing.
I was just tired.
Are you
telling us you felt nothing
inside after this man died?
I was just tired.
You had no thoughts,
no feelings,
no emotions.
Mr. labuschagne,
are you all right?
I'm not feeling well.
My lord, I'd like to press on.
Are you feeling faint?
I might be sick.
My lord.
My lord, I'd like to
approach my client.
Mr. weber, if the accused
needs medical attention,
the court will adjourn.
My lord, I'm near the end
of this line of questioning...
You are at the end, Mr. weber.
The court is adjourned.
How could you be so cruel?
It is your job to protect him,
not to hurt him.
My job is to defend him,
miss labuschagne.
That's all I'm trying to do.
You don't need to
abuse him to defend him.
I'm sorry. I'm doing my best.
You don't care if
he hangs, do you?
I'll talk to her.
Hello, Pierre.
How's it?
Well,
you didn't choose this place
for the decor
or the clientele.
Saw you on the TV
the other night,
leaving the court.
Being seen with you
is kind of a liability.
So, we're reduced to
secret,
shabby assignations now.
I can't get you what you want.
My source on
the inside has clammed up.
They're taking
things more cautiously.
Surely, there's something
on a warrant officer
that's a matter
of public record.
I just need to know
what I'm looking for.
I cannot get a file
on the warrant officer.
Or the other warders.
Half these okes don't
even tell their wives
where they're working.
Well,
we've got to find something
or they'll hang him
within six months.
They'll hang him
sooner than that.
A warder who went through
the same ordeal,
someone who liked him.
There must be
somebody who's on his side.
And how the hell do you think
we got what we already have?
Now you listen
to me, 'cause this
is the last of it,
do you understand?
And I'm not seeing you again
until all of
this shit is over.
There was
a prison revolt, a riot,
whatever you wanna
call it, on death row,
his last day.
And?
And they hanged them, anyway.
And that's all
I've got for you.
Wait, wait.
Um...
You know what it feels like,
killing. I don't.
I need to know
what he remembers,
what he tries to block out.
I can't get through
to him unless I know
what's going on
inside his head!
What did it do to you?
You stupid doos.
Pierre!
Mr. weber?
Mr. labuschagne,
consult the register
for your last three days
at maximum, please.
Tell the court what happened
on the 8th of December.
We hanged seven men.
And on the 9th?
Another seven.
And on your
last day, the 10th?
Seven more.
Seven more.
21 men in three days,
which, I understand,
was another record
number of executions
for that amount of days.
Yeah.
Did anything unusual occur
during the executions
on your last day?
Mr. labuschagne,
tell the court what happened
on your last day at maximum,
the 10th of December.
Did the prisoners
who were going up that day
become difficult in some way?
Mr. labuschagne,
you told the court
about your first hanging,
now tell the court about
what you
experienced at your last one.
The warrant officer thought
they'd been broken.
But they weren't.
Get him in there!
Took another half dozen men
to get them out.
We were
ordered to take them up
in straightjackets
and hang them like that.
Don't touch him!
What happened
after the hanging?
What were your duties then?
Just a moment.
Miss marais,
the purpose of this
evidence is to show
that the execution process
was traumatic for the accused.
I'm sure the state
would admit to that by now.
Is this correct, miss marais?
We are prepared to admit that.
Is there any
need for more detail
in this area, Mr. weber?
It's damage control.
They're trying to do to us
what we did to them.
My lord, we're grateful for
the concession by the state,
but we're going to
have to lead this evidence,
unpleasant as it may be.
We're conscious of our duty
to avoid unnecessary evidence,
but we are equally
conscious of our duty
to present
the defense case fully.
Mr. labuschagne, continue.
What happened
after the hangings?
We
tossed a coin to see
who had to take
them to the cemetery.
I lost.
Amen.
Amen.
Stop!
Isaiah!
What
happened when you got back
to the prison.
Mr. labuschagne?
I fainted.
And they took me to the medic.
I had a bump on
the left side of my head
from the accident
and I was
bleeding from my ear.
Were you
offered any treatment?
The medic gave me
a headache tablet.
A headache tablet.
What happened next?
I came off duty,
and started for home.
But the storm was really bad.
What happened, Mr.
labuschagne?
All I can remember
is how tired I was.
How tired I was of everything.
The minibus...
There was almost
another accident.
You remember what happened?
Mr. labuschagne, what happened
after you nearly
had an accident
with the minibus?
You followed them up
the quarry road
to magazine hill.
Once you and the driver
reached the dead
end at the quarry,
what occurred?
I heard the trapdoors open.
Can you say that again?
I heard the sound of
the trapdoors opening.
Proceed.
Take your time.
Tell it slowly.
I smelled the rope.
Could taste
the smell of the rope
in my throat.
The quarry, Mr. labuschagne,
what occurred there?
I can't remember.
So, that's it,
you can't remember?
Mr. weber,
do you have anything else
for the defense?
Mr. labuschagne,
what happened next?
What do you remember?
Mr. labuschagne!
Mr. weber,
this is highly improper!
Will you return
to the bar at once.
I'm sorry, my lord.
And so you should be.
It should never happen again.
Do you have any
other line of questioning
for this witness at
this time, Mr. weber?
My lord,
i have no further questions.
Thank you.
Miss marais.
As the court pleases.
So, you say that
the execution process
and the work in the pit room
upset you greatly.
Is that what you're saying?
You have to speak up.
The evidence
has to be recorded
and a nod or
a shake of your head
will not be recorded.
Miss marais is right.
Speak up and direct
your answers to us.
So, you're saying
that the execution process
and the work in the pit room
upset you greatly.
Yes.
But weren't you
playing the fool
in all
the sections of the prison,
including the gallows room,
the pit room,
and even the chapel?
No.
Let me see if I can
give your memory a jolt.
Can you recall
an occasion when you
gave a new warder a fright
by putting white
chalk on your face
and hiding in
one of the freezers
in the autopsy room?
It wasn't me.
But you smiled
when I reminded you
of the incident. Why?
Don't know that I smiled.
So, what is your answer?
You remember the incident,
do you?
I heard about it.
You climbed up on the catwalk
and scared prisoners
by making ghost noises.
It's not true.
You sprayed the other warders
with the hose
while cleaning the pit room.
Some of us got
wet while cleaning.
You once put a lit cigarette
in the mouth of
an executed prisoner
before closing his coffin.
And the smoke leaked out
with his family
there for the funeral.
It wasn't me.
All you have
to do is say yes or no.
If any explanation is needed,
i will ask you
for an explanation.
Otherwise, you can leave
your explanations for later
when your
advocate re-examines you.
And do not speak
to miss marais.
Address your answers to me.
You collected beads.
No.
New coffins arrived with lids
that came in two pieces,
a head piece and
a longer body piece.
So that you could
get your fingers
beneath the head piece
to open the coffin,
they pre-set
little plastic beads
beneath the lid, didn't they?
Yellow ones,
green ones, white ones,
and even little pink ones.
They're washers.
They're washers, you say.
Yes.
You collected these washers.
You kept a washer
for every prisoner
you escorted to the gallows,
didn't you?
It wasn't like that.
You kept one
washer from each coffin
like notches on
a gunslinger's six-shooter.
You did so because there was
a competition between warders
to see who could
collect the most,
wasn't there?
I was ordered to do the work.
Please look at
this photograph.
These are
the washers you collected
before you were arrested,
correct?
Yes.
You kept these
washers in your drawer.
This photograph was
taken at your house
when the police searched it.
You'd placed
the washers from the 8th and
the 9th on the string already,
hadn't you?
You'll have to speak.
Yes.
I suggest to you
that your evidence that
you were upset by
the execution process
and the work you had
to do in the pit room
is just a facade
and that, in truth,
you actually enjoyed the work.
In fact, you got used
to this special work
very quickly, didn't you?
The special work of killing.
That must've made
you feel important
and powerful,
knowing that you could kill
and not be prosecuted for it.
No one except us
knew about
the work we're doing.
So, how would that
make me feel
important or powerful?
Don't ask me questions.
You knew
you were immune
to prosecution,
that you had
the blessing of the law,
didn't you?
We didn't do the killing,
the hangman did.
Yet you've told
the court that you had to
pull prisoners up by the neck
and drop them again,
haven't you?
Yes, but we didn't actually
touch the prisoners.
We only touched the rope.
It was what
the warrant
officer told us to do!
But you dropped them again
so that their necks
would break cleanly,
didn't you?
Yes.
So, in those cases,
the executioner
pushed the lever,
but his hand did not cause
the prisoner's
neck to break, did it?
Your hands did.
My lord, with respect,
the question is
actually an argument
and not a question
the witness can answer.
You told us Mr. labuschagne's
state of mind was relevant,
and that every
bit of information
that has a bearing
on his state of mind
is admissible.
So,
I'd like to hear the answer.
You physically
raised the prisoners
and then dropped them again
so that they would die.
Yes.
When a prisoner's neck broke,
after the trapdoor had opened,
you saw the executioner's hand
as the one that
had done the killing.
Yes, it was his hand.
So, by the same token,
when you hauled a prisoner up
dropped him down,
and his neck broke,
it was not
the executioner's hand
that did the killing, was it?
I see what you mean.
So, it was your hand
that did the killing.
And it was your hand that
did the killing at the quarry,
too, wasn't it?
You can't
remember what happened
at the quarry,
is that what you say?
But I've told you
what I can remember.
You claim you have no memory
of the shooting.
Is that how we are to
understand your evidence?
But I can't remember!
So, your defense
is not that you
didn't shoot them,
but that you can't
remember shooting them.
Is that how we are
to understand it?
My lord,
it's not for the accused
to answer questions of law.
I alone can answer questions
such as those proposed
by my learned friend.
No more questions, my lord.
Mr. weber, do you intend
to re-examine the accused?
If it pleases my lord.
You killed them.
Everyone knows that.
Isn't that right?
Isn't that right, Mr.
labuschagne?
I don't know.
I mean, it must've been me.
But I don't understand.
Two years ago,
you were a school prefect
and active in the church.
And now you're here in court,
on trial for murder.
How did that happen?
I don't know.
You were a husband, a father,
but now neither your wife
nor your daughter will
visit you in the cells
and they've not
attended court, either,
have they?
What brought
about this change,
Mr. labuschagne?
Tell us what happened,
the reasons you
fired those shots.
Mr. labuschagne!
You were having problems,
weren't you?
So, why didn't you go
to the warrant officer
and ask to seek for help?
A psychiatrist
could've helped you!
Why didn't you tell me?
Before I started
hurting my wife.
Mr. labuschagne.
Before I lost everything.
Before I killed seven people!
Mr. labuschagne!
Why didn't you tell me!
That is enough!
Bailiff!
Why didn't you tell me?
Remove the accused
from the dock.
Order!
If I'd known what
you were going to do,
I would never have allowed
further questioning.
Court adjourned.
They pass these cases off
to the most junior advocates
because no one cares.
The judges hand
down death sentences
in the name of the law.
And the prison officials say
they're just witnesses,
it's the hangman
that does the killing.
It's denial of responsibility
all the way down the line.
What's the hangman's
excuse then?
It's gravity's fault,
i suppose.
Tell us in your own words
what you observed.
Mr. labuschagne,
the court is waiting.
What happened after you
nearly had
an accident with the minibus?
The quarry, Mr. labuschagne.
Tell us what you remember.
You followed them
up the quarry road
to magazine hill,
and once you
reached the dead end,
what occurred?
What happened, Mr.
labuschagne?
What did you see?
The noise.
You'll lead
the inspection in loco, weber.
Frankly, I'm
surprised Kathleen consented.
I would've expected
to close a case
like this by now.
Well, thank you, judge.
I'd like to start
by having the accused
stand next to
the door of the bakkie,
so that we can
measure the exact distance
from there to the minibus.
I'd now like
the accused to raise his arm
and point toward the minibus.
Can we agree that the distance
is no more than 10 meters?
Ten-and-a-half, I'd say.
- Anything else?
Leon.
Leon.
Why did you bring us here?
Judge,
we think this is the trigger
for an unconditioned
response in him,
that he acted unconsciously.
Something to do
with this door.
J.P., we would like the court
to take note of the
winding and undulating nature
of the track
leading to the quarry.
And the rocks in the roadway.
It would
require a very conscious
effort to drive
over such terrain.
Noted.
If there's nothing else, we'll
reassemble back at court.
Judge,
i have one further request
before we
terminate the inspection.
So, what are we here to see,
Mr. weber?
I wonder if
the warrant officer
would be kind enough
to throw the lever
and release the trapdoor.
Leon.
Leon,
what I did today...
I just wanted to explain...
I'm just so sorry...
...for what I've done.
I'm just so sorry.
This list of names
of men hanged
at maximum security prison
might look like
any list of names
and dates and numbers.
Nothing more than
an anonymous flock.
But to Leon labuschagne,
these were real people
who entered his life.
He processed them,
placed them in their cells,
woke them,
saw that they were fed,
took them to the showers
and the exercise yard,
met their families.
Searched them, touched them.
Read their mail,
led their Bible studies,
and then,
he took them to the gallows.
Some he was made to kill
with his own hands.
After which
he handled their dead,
naked bodies,
and buried them.
No, to Leon labuschagne,
this is not
an abstract list of names,
or an anonymous flock.
But the list is incomplete
because there's
a name missing from it.
And that name is
Leon Albert labuschagne.
That is ridiculous, Mr. weber!
Is it? He spent his whole time
locked in with them!
He shared every moment
of their last days with them,
and then he was
made to witness
the gruesome
details of their deaths
on a regular and
extended basis!
He has been sentenced to death
as surely as all the others!
That is
a ridiculous submission!
It is not ridiculous, my lord!
What is
ridiculous is the denial
of what we have
done to this young man!
My lord, gentlemen,
you cannot ask a man
to be both
Shepherd and butcher
at the same time.
Miss marais,
do you have a final reply
to the defense's argument?
My lord, gentlemen assessors.
May I remind the court
that this is a case of murder.
Murder seven times over.
And that the court
should declare it to be such.
Leon labuschagne,
trained in
the physical act of killing,
herded his victims
to a secluded area,
where he shot and killed them.
He has not been
a good witness,
but evasive and unresponsive.
And now he tries
the court's indulgence
with a farfetched
and unconvincing effort
to save his own life.
J.P. Says
they won't give
judgment tomorrow.
They apparently
need another day.
Wonder what that's about.
Perhaps one of the assessors
might not agree with
the proposed verdict
and the judge would prefer
a unanimous decision.
So, they're just being
careful, taking their time.
Bad news for you, then.
They take longer
with a conviction
than an acquittal.
J.P. Will want to write
an appeal-proof judgment.
Have a good evening.
And you.
Nice closing argument.
You want to talk?
Anne says you
disappear quite often.
Sometimes for days.
What is this,
one of your
cross examinations?
Tell me what's
going on, Pierre.
We're alone.
You're drunk enough.
What does it matter?
You're not on down-time,
are you?
You're running
an op somewhere.
We bombed a house today.
Is that what you want to hear?
It's your job, right?
Yes, it's my job!
I serve this country.
It is my duty,
and that is why I do it!
So, why are you drunk
and in a state about it, then?
Mr. labuschagne,
please stand up.
We are not united
in our findings of the facts
and there will be
a majority verdict.
I shall read
the judgment of the majority
and their verdict,
not the opinion of
the dissenting member,
will be
the verdict of this court.
Mr. labuschagne,
while your defense counsel
have put forward the argument
that your actions were not
conscious or voluntary,
as required by law,
this court
finds you guilty of
murder as charged.
However, due to
the extraordinary events
that led to your
actions at the quarry,
the court finds
extenuating
circumstances present.
You are therefore sentenced
to 20 years imprisonment
with the possibility
of early parole,
based upon your progress
in a program of
psychiatric treatment,
supervised by a state
appointed psychologist.
Well done.
Congratulations.
I wouldn't have thought
anyone could pull that off.
It won't be a popular decision
on either side.
Somebody once said,
"in the cycle of killing,
"there's no beginning or end,
just more killing."
Maybe we addressed
that on some level.
Take care.
Thank you, sir.
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