The trial of Daniel Olivier and Keith Olivier who stand accused of the murder of Ludi Vink started on September 29.
The pair face charges of murder connected to the death of Vink in February 2017, after he was fatally stabbed in the eye with a pool cue in Randhart.
Both of the accused, after being explained the significant potential punishments that can be applied should they be found guilty by presiding officer Magistrate Reginald Dama, pleaded not guilty to the crime of murder.
The defence, on behalf of Daniel Olivier, indicated to the court that they intend to argue for putative private defence. Keith Olivier reserved his right to remain silent at this point in the trial.
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Mother’s testimony
The State led their case by calling to the witness stand the mother of the deceased to testify about the night when Vink lost his life.
Danlee Vink testified that she went to the bar with her son around 2pm to play pool. Throughout her testimony the State referred to a video depicting the CCTV footage captured within the bar on the day of Vink’s death.
Around 10.30pm, according to the witness, she saw an incident at the bar. When referring to the video she acknowledged that it was the first accused and his wife seated at the bar.
She recounted that she was at that stage sitting with the owner of the bar, Mitzy Mathysen, at a table when the first accused called him over. She then described that a brawl broke out but admitted that she could not really see what was happening.
According to Danlee, Daniel Olivier and his wife then left the bar and went to go sit in their car which was parked across from the entrance of the bar.
She then told the court how a second car entered the parking lot and stopped next to Daniel Olivier’s vehicle. The witness recounted how she saw people move towards the door of the bar.
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Breaking down in tears
She then saw the owner being dragged in by the arms and according to her he looked like he was beaten. She said that she then walked towards the second door of the bar but was told by her son who was moving towards the door to return to the table.
“Accused number one then picked up a pool cue and drove it into my son’s eye,” said Danlee Vink.
At this stage she broke down crying unable to continue her testimony. Dama granted a short remission for her to be able to continue. Family members rushed to her to console her.
After the short remission Danlee recounted how Keith Olivier pulled the pool cue from her son’s eye. The state asked her if there was any reason that they would have needed to resort to such violence and she replied that there were none.
Due to the time available Dama halted the testimony for the day, with the testimony set to resume the next day.
The case was, however, forced to be postponed due the prosecutor of the case being unwell and unable to attend.
The case will be resumed on October 26 with Danlee Vink still testifying her evidence in chief followed by cross examination by the defence.
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