Pretoria husband ‘admitted’ to disposing of wife’s body
In a statement read out to the court, the investigating officer said Basdeo had given him three versions of how his wife disappeared.
Prem Basdeo
The Brooklyn man accused of killing his wife allegedly admitted to disposing of her body, the investigating officer said in court.
Prem Emmanuel Basdeo, 58, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on Friday, where his bail application continued, reports Pretoria East Rekord.
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In a statement read out to the court, the investigating officer said Basdeo had given him three versions of how his wife disappeared.
In one, the officer said Basdeo had admitted to disposing of Dawn’s body after she fell in the bathroom while they were having an argument.
The officer said Basdeo said during the argument, his wife of 15 years had threatened him with a knife and as he wrestled her for the knife, she had accidentally cut herself, fallen and never woke up.
The officer said Basdeo had explained how he wrapped Dawn’s body in a brown blanket, loaded it into a car and disposed of it after a long drive.
Opposing the bail application, prosecutor Kagiso Ranchu said Basdeo was not trustworthy and could interfere with investigations should he be let out.
Ranchu said Basdeo stood to gain nearly R4 million in insurance payouts against his wife’s life and had also inherited a substantial amount after the death of his first wife, Neetha, who he was also accused of murdering.
Neetha was found dead in a shipping container the family lived in while their house was being refurbished.
Basdeo and his son Jordan were acquitted of her murder due to a lack of evidence.
Ranchu said Basdeo had failed to disclose this to the police, which made him untrustworthy.
“The accused will attempt to destroy evidence,” he said.
“He is also in possession of a valid South African passport.”
Basdeo’s lawyer, Piet Pistorius, told the court his client stood as an innocent man, as he had not been found guilty in the previous murder case, and its mention in the current case was irrelevant.
The officer said in another statement, Basdeo had claimed Dawn left in her silver Mercedes Benz for a local hospital for blood tests and never returned home.
While in yet another, he told investigators his wife took a walk and never returned. When he realised Dawn had gone missing, he panicked and decided to drive the car to Soweto to make it look like a hijacking.
Her vehicle was found abandoned in Soweto.
Basdeo reported Dawn missing on June 9.
He faces charges of murder, perjury and defeating the ends of justice.
The magistrate was expected to rule on the bail application on Thursday.
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