British billionaire charged with murder after ‘shooting employee during fight over daughter-in-law’

A British billionaire has been charged with murder after allegedly shooting dead a member of his staff during a scuffle at a barbecue in Namibia. 

Harvey Boulter, 51, is said to have threatened Gerhard van Wyk with the pistol in an argument which erupted after he drunkenly suggested that the 54-year-old’s daughter-in-law owed him sex in exchange for a favour. 

Van Wyk tried to wrestle the pistol out of Boulter’s hands but was hit by a single shot and died on the way to hospital, it is claimed.   

Boulter – a Ukip donor who once had a hand in Liam Fox’s resignation from the UK cabinet – was later arrested at his 66,000-acre property and is facing a murder charge.    

Billionaire tycoon Harvey Boulter (pictured), 51, has been charged with murder after his employee Gerhard van Wyk, 54, was shot at his farm

Gerhard van Wyk, far right, died on the way to hospital after apparently trying to wrestle a pistol out of Boulter’s hands during the deadly barbecue scuffle in Namibia. His son Gerhard Jr and daughter-in-law Liani, who was allegedly propositioned by Boulter, are pictured at the front 

The argument is said to have broken out as Boulter discussed a plan for Van Wyk’s son Gerhard Jr and his wife Liani to build their own home on the billionaire’s land. 

Boulter, described by a source as ‘very drunk’, allegedly remarked that Liani ‘would have to have sex with him every other night to repay the favour’. 

‘Gerhard Jr objected to that, they began to argue, Harvey pulled out his weapon and then when his father came to try and get the gun off him, they wrestled and it went off,’ the source told The Times. 

Van Wyk, who was the manager of Boulter’s property, was taken to a car to be rushed by his wife Alta to the nearest hospital but died about 18 miles into the 100-mile journey, police said.

Chief Inspector Paavo Iyambo told The Times: ‘Harvey apparently insulted Van Wyk’s daughter-in-law, became aggressive and threatened the family with a pistol.

‘Van Wyk tried to keep the peace, intervened and tried to take the pistol away from Harvey.’

The family’s lawyer Jan Wessels said Gerhard Jr had also been in the car as the family rushed the wounded Mr Van Wyk to Outjo State Hospital.  

Following Mr Van Wyk’s death, his family reported the incident to the police and Boulter, whose hand was also injured in the scuffle, was arrested at his property.     

The billionaire, pictured, had allegedly insulted Mr Van Wyk’s daughter-in-law and threatened his family with a pistol

In 2011, the billionaire tycoon forced the former defence secretary Liam Fox to resign after revealing he was travelling with a bogus ‘adviser’

The murder charge comes years after the businessman, who is also a Ukip donor, forced Liam Fox to resign from the Cabinet after revealing he was travelling the world with a bogus ‘adviser’.  

In 2011, it was revealed Dr Fox, had taken close friend  and former flatmate Adam Werritty with him on 18 overseas trips as part of his official party, funded by private donors and business interests, and given him access to the Ministry of Defence. 

The revelation, which was disclosed by Boulter, led to an inquiry by Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell finding that Dr Fox had breached the Ministerial Code. 

Following the scandal, Dr Fox resigned and apologised for ‘allowing distinctions to be blurred between professional responsibilities and personal loyalties.’ 

He said: ‘I accept that it was a mistake to allow distinctions to be blurred between my professional responsibilities and my personal loyalties to a friend. I am sorry for this.

‘At no stage did I or my department provide classified information or briefings to Mr Werritty or assist with his commercial work – let alone benefit personally from this work.

‘Nevertheless, I do accept that given Mr Werritty’s defence-related business interests, my frequent contacts with him may have given an impression of wrongdoing, and may also have given third parties the misleading impression that Mr Werritty was an official adviser rather than simply a friend.

‘I have learned lessons from this experience.’