Gibson Lion Zwelakhe, a resident of Khutsong Ext. 5, appeared before Magistrate Viglia Bester in the Carletonville Regional Court on Tuesday. Capt. Soon Theron, one of the detectives who arrested Zwelakhe on the day after the murder (23 May 2018), testified that the accused should not be granted bail as he was a flight risk.
“We have a solid case, which is ready for trial,” Theron told the court. He said Zwelakhe had murdered his former employer after she had given him a lift.
He assaulted the Carletonville grandmother with a hammer from behind while she was driving and, when she jumped out of her car, came after her and continued his attack. Newberry, a resident of Senatus, died from severe head injuries.
Although Zwelakhe initially told police he was not able to drive her car, the neighbour, in whose yard Newberry’s Chev Spark was later found, said he had taken it there. The police found the murder weapon in Zwelakhe’s house.
While no fingerprints could be found on it, the DNA sample found that the blood on it was Newberry’s. Some of her stolen possessions were also found hidden under the mattress of Zwelakhe’s bed. He later confessed to the crime.
“The accused has a feeling of what it is like in prison and knows that, because there is a strong case against him, he will be in there for a long time. In my experience, that would cause him to run if he is let out on bail,” Theron argued.
He added that family members of the deceased, many of whom stay in the area, had threatened to avenge Newberry’s murder if he was to be let out.
The only reason the case has not gone to trial yet was for Zwelakhe to be sent for psychiatric observation at the Sterkfontein Hospital in Krugersdorp.
Up to now, there has been no bed for him there.
It has also emerged that Zwelakhe has previous convictions for assault and theft.
His lawyer asked for bail because her client had been in prison since his arrest.
She also said he was the breadwinner and was receiving treatment for a terminal disease. While Magistrate Bester ruled that these were not exceptional circumstances for him to be granted bail in such a serious case, she stressed that bail proceedings were not a trial to determine guilt or innocence.
