Shepherds and Butchers Page #3

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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

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