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Kirsten Kluyts’ alleged murderer denies killing teacher but admits to wearing her shirt
The accused says he took Kirsten Kluyts' clothes because his fingerprints were on them.
Kirsten Kluyts was murdered on 29 October 2023. Picture: Facebook/Hoedspruit Parkrun
The suspect accused of Kirsten Kluyts’ murder has denied being responsible for the death of the Johannesburg teacher, although he did admit to coming across her body.
The accused, who can no longer be named until he pleads, appeared in the Alexandra Magistrate’s Court for a bail application on Monday.
The state is opposing his release on bail.
The 21-year-old Varsity College student is facing charges of rape, robbery with aggravating circumstances and premeditated murder in connection to Kluyts’ death.
CCTV footage leads to arrest
Kluyts, a teacher at Delta Park High School, was attacked while participating in the MyRun event in Sandton on 29 October 2023.
Her body was found at George Lea Park in Parkmore hours after her disappearance.
The victim’s running shoes, sunglasses, blue T-shirt, pants, and pink cap were taken.
The suspect was subsequently arrested at the Varsity College student residence on 26 November after the police obtained video footage from the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the vicinity of Parkmore.
ALSO READ: Kirsten Kluyts murder: Defence wants video evidence for bail application
The footage allegedly shows the accused leaving the area where the teacher’s body was found wearing her blue T-shirt.
The same footage also allegedly depicted the accused jumping over a locked gate at the Sandton Sports Club and captured him attempting to get rid of Kluyts’ clothes.
According to the state, Kluyts was struck with a blunt object before she was smothered and strangled until she died.
Constitutional rights
At the beginning of the proceedings, defence lawyer, Advocate Itumeleng Masako, had intended to use the CCTV footage in the bail hearing.
But the state only provided him with still photos as it also planned to use the footage in the trial.
“As the state at this stage, we are not compelled to provide them with the copy of the footage,” state prosecutor Ayanda Bakana told the court.
Masako then took his client through a series of images of the George Lea Park vicinity as well as around the suspect’s student residence, where he claimed he was headed when he was erroneously dropped off by a taxi because he missed his stop while sleeping.
The accused said he wasn’t read his constitutional rights by the police during his arrest.
“He didn’t say anything to me. He just asked me ‘is this you on the photo?’. I said yes and they started putting handcuffs on and slapping me,” he said.
WATCH: ‘I didn’t want to be involved’- Accused explains why he took Kirsten Kluyts’ clothes
“He told my caretaker that I am being charged with murder,” he continued.
The suspect indicated that his constitutional rights weren’t read to him once again upon arrival at the police station, saying the police took his fingerprints.
He told the court that the officers instructed him to unlock his phone, but he was told he had a right to refuse.
“I opened because I wanted to show them the pictures from the pyjama party in Tsutsumani,” the suspect explained.
The accused previously claimed that he was in Tsutsumani the night before Kluyts’ body was found.
‘How does that benefit me?’
The accused denied stalking, raping or killing Kluyts on the day of the race when she went missing, saying anyone who would suddenly have a thought of murdering another person would not be right in their mind.
“I can’t just come from a party the previous day, going home to go submit an assignment and decide ‘I’m going to kill someone now’. [How] does that benefit me?” the accused said.
He, however, conceded that he wore Kluyts’ shirt as alleged by the state.
The suspect explained that he found her body, but took off her clothes so that he would not be implicated as he had contaminated the crime scene.
READ MORE: State expected to oppose bail as Kirsten Kluyts murder case postponed
“I took the clothes and then I ran. I was running away because I was shocked that I was just with a dead body so if I leave my fingerprints there, they gonna say I am the one that killed her so it’s better I leave with what I touched and I go,” he said.
Masako asked his client why didn’t he go back to the police.
“I didn’t want to go to jail,” the suspect responded.
The accused later broke down in tears as he read a doctor’s letter about the condition of his mother’s health since his arrest into the record.
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