Rudie and Shantelle Oosthuizen during their first court appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court in connection with the murder of Jacques Freitag. Pictures: Gallo Images/ Tertius Pickard and Supplied
The two prime suspects in the investigation for the brutal murder of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag made their third appearance at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday morning, 31 July.
Controversial former lawyer Rudolph “Rudie” Lubbe, 52, and his lover Shantellè Oosthuizen, 42, abandoned their bail applications with the State requesting a postponement until 12 August for further investigation.
According to the official charge sheet, the couple is accused of conspiring “unlawfully and willfully” with Freitag between May and June this year to murder Oosthuizen’s fiancé, Louis Harmse. He survived the attack.
They have also been charged with the murder of the 42-year-old Freitag.
In comparison to the tailored suit and tie in which he previously appeared in court, an unshaven Lubbe made his appearance with unbrushed hair and a light grey tracksuit top.
Speaking to The Citizen following their bail hearing, Steve Hefferman from Hefferman (SDH) Attorneys who is handling the couple’s legal representation along with Shaun Hefferman and Advocate Jack Bester, said they will be remanded in custody at the Pretoria Moot Police Station.
This after state prosecutor Liana Bosman requested they remain at South African Police Service (Saps) Pretoria Moot to allow easy access to Lubbe and Oosthuizen for pointing-out procedures.
The 2.04m high jump star’s decomposing body was found on 1 July with three gunshot wounds, multiple stab wounds and a broken arm in a field near the Zandfontein Cemetery, Pretoria West.
Freitag’s sister, Chrissie Lewis, told the Sunday Tmes that Freitag’s face was unrecognisable when his body was found and that her boyfriend, Theo Botha, could only identify him through a tattoo.
Approached for comment by The Citizen on Wednesday morning, the investigative officer at Pretoria’s Hercules Police Station, Captain Martin Smith, confirmed that Lubbe and Oosthuizen are the only suspects in the murder investigation at this point.
“We are working non-stop to try and find the firearm and knife with which Freitag was killed before his body was dumped in the field,” he said.
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Oosthuizen and Lubbe vanished after they were questioned in connection with the grim murder of Freitag.
They were arrested on Tuesday, 16 July at a guest house in Sabie, Mpumalanga, following a short but intense manhunt for the couple.
According to private investigator Hennie Viljoen from Spesialised Security Services (SSS) who has worked alongside the police in the investigation, the couple claimed that they were not on the run, but “on holiday in Sabie” and unaware of the warrants of arrest.
ALSO READ: ‘I am God’s mistake’: Haunting last interview with murdered SA high jump star Jacques Freitag
Freitag was last seen alive when he left a guest house – situated 4km away from the cemetery – on foot on 18 June.
He was reportedly dropped off at the establishment the previous day by Lubbe who fetched him from the Bronkhorstspruit home of his mother, Hendrien Pieters, at 1am to allegedly pay him for “a job”.
It is believed that the high jumper’s involvement in the intricate love triangle between Lubbe, Oosthuizen and Harmse, boils down to a “botched hit”.
Harmse previously told Rapport that he was allegedly attacked by Freitag with a brick at an apartment next to Lubbe’s rental home in Montana Park on 13 June.
According to the publication, Freitag allegedly knew both Lubbe and Oosthuizen with whom he is said to have done drugs on a regular basis.
ALSO READ: Jacques Freitag: Downward drug spiral of former SA world high jump champion
In 2006, Lubbe was struck off the roll of attorneys after complaints from the Law Society of the Northern provinces that he had been unprofessional and had stolen money from his trust account.
He also made headlines back in August 2004 after being arrested for allegedly threatening to kill his then-wife, Magdaline.
Freitag was only 21 when he won the gold medal in the men’s high jump event clearing 2.35m at the 9th IAAF World Athletics Championship at the Stade de France in Paris on 25 August 2003.
He still holds the African record after clearing 2.38m which he set in a competition in 2005 and is one of only 10 athletes, including Usain Bolt, to win world championship titles at the youth, junior, and senior levels of an athletic event.
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