During the morning of the continuation of the #KrugersdorpMurders trial, Marcel Steyn, daughter of Marinda Steyn and part of the alleged Electus Per Deus ministry, which was allegedly formed and led by the infamous Cecilia Steyn, gave her shocking testimony.
Read about the proceedings of the first half of the day here:
Before the court announced a one-hour break at 1pm, Marcel noted that Cecilia, because she wasn’t present at the murders, always wanted to know exactly what had happened after every murder.
Kevin McAlpine’s murder was much the same as that of Anthony Schofield. Marcel said when she returned after checking if the PIN he had provided was correct, she witnessed her brother, Le Roux Steyn, strangling him. The two men’s belongings, cellphones, laptops, etc. were discarded in the Key West Shopping Centre dam. Hanle Lategan’s bank account threw out an error which Marcel didn’t recognise when they tried to access it. They went to many other ATMs, but kept receiving this error message. They could withdraw a small amount of money, but not everything. When Marcel returned, Hanle was already dead. John Barnard, one of the group who pleaded guilty in 2016 and was sentenced to 20 years in jail, said that he knew of a field near Randfontein where they could dispose of the body.
Marcel had, at this point, applied to a university, but did not tell Marinda or Cecilia, believing that they would not let her go. She again noted that if someone wasn’t with the group, they were effectively deemed to be against them. She and her mother were involved in a fight when she told her that she had been accepted to the university.
She explained that she never felt like she had anyone she could talk to, even though she and her mom had a very close relationship. Her brother, Le Roux, was also protective of her at school.
“My brother was my protector at school,” she told the court.
After they met Cecilia, though, things were complicated and their relationships became strained. They were thereafter not allowed to wear certain clothes, play games or listen to specific types of music.
She idiolised Cecilia, because the latter had told her that she had many degrees, could speak multiple languages, had gone through a lot growing up and was a very staunch Christian.
“And even after all of this, she made something of herself,” Marcel said.
Marcel said she knew about the firearms kept at 17 Cosanna Flats and the ammunition concealed in Marinda’s classroom, but she herself was never in possession of any firearms.
Marcel revealed that she felt relieved when her mother was sentenced. This relief also made her feel guilty. For the first time she could be her own person. Marcel and Marinda see each other once a month at family therapy with a social worker. She saw her mother on Thursday, 9 May, when she gave Marinda a Mother’s Day card and a letter. She made her promise that she’d only open the letter today, 13 May. She told the court that her mother probably knew about her decision to tell the truth now.
“By the time the trial started last year, after seeing Cecilia for a few days, the whole day, I just wanted to get away. I was scared she would attack me, physically, while we travelled together,” Marcel said. She is especially afraid now of being transported with her in the same truck, and staying in the same holding cell during the trial after she had revealed her ‘truths’ in court. “She didn’t know what I would testify today. I was scared she would try to manipulate me.”
After this statement, the court ruled that Cecilia and Marcel would be separated in future, both in the truck and the courtroom. Cecilia, Marinda and Marcel are not allowed to be in the same place at the same time.
At about 2pm, court recommenced and Marcel continued her testimony.
Court proceedings moved on with her testimony pertaining to the rest of the murders. Referring to the Glen McGregor murder, Marcel said that she, Le Roux, Marinda and John Barnard went to Glen’s house. Marinda had made an appointment with him, and when she told Glen that they were robbing him, he supposedly simply laughed at her in response. When he stood up, Marinda fired two shots at him. He fell to the ground and did not get up after that. Marcel told the court they looked for a safe and money but did not find anything so Marinda successfully made a bank transfer from his account to hers. Marinda first tried to smother him with plastic wrap that she had brought with her, but that didn’t work.
Le Roux then proceeded to strangle him, and they moved his body away from the window because they were afraid that someone had heard the shots and would come and investigate. They placed his body in a bath, opened the tap and left the water running. Marinda allegedly said this would wash away any evidence.
Marcel testified that after her arrest she wanted to tell the police everything, but decided to rather ask for a lawyer.
She explained that she knew about a confidentiality clause and thought maybe a lawyer would be able to give her advice. She then asked for a lawyer but the police apparently told her that a lawyer would just tell her to keep quiet. Thereafter, she refused to help the police.
On the Sunday, they allegedly took her out of her cell, put a gas mask on her and tried to smother her.
“After this I was angry at the police and decided I would not talk to them.”
In 2013, Marinda had allegedly told Cecilia that a group of people had visited the school where she was teaching, and where both Marcel and Le Roux were learners at the time. The group came to speak to the children about drug abuse.
Cecilia then told them that the group was exaggerating and bought a quantity of CAT (Methcathinone or ‘Meth’), for the whole group to try. Marcel claimed that all of the members used drugs from time to time. They reportedly used CAT, a highly addictive psychoactive substance and later moved on to Crystal Meth (Methamphetamine). Marcel was 14 years old when she used drugs for the first time, and continued using up until the time of her arrest.
At first it was only once in a while but as they continued with the criminal activity, she started asking John for more drugs, because using made her feel less guilty. Towards the end, she was using drugs practically every day. Marinda was apparently fine with Marcel using drugs, as long as they were provided by Cecilia.
According to Marcel, Marinda and Zak wrote a prayer together and personalised it for the group. In this prayer they referred to the Electus Per Deus witches and children and after that the group voluntarily got tattoos.
Marcel clearly stated that, in her opinion, Cecilia was the leader of the group, and that she was the main instigator of most of the things they did, and that Marinda was second in command throughout. Regarding herself, she noted that she derived no benefits from the offences committed by the group and that, as far as she knew, the money they acquired was given to the orphans.
On the subject of what she would say to the families who were affected by these crimes, she tearfully said, “I thought a lot about what I could say, what I want to say, and basically what it boils down to. The short version is I’m very sorry. I know my testifying and telling the truth, and admitting how sorry I am does not bring them back. It does not take the pain away, and you will walk with that for the rest of your lives. And I contributed, I am sorry, I am really sorry.”
Court adjourned at 2.30pm, and will reconvene today at 10am. The News’ Natasha Pretorius and Michelle Swart will again report and Tweet from inside the courthouse.
