After a short recess, Marcel Steyn’s testimony in the South Gauteng High Court in the trial that shook the country continued.
To read the first part of Day 2, click here:
https://krugersdorpnews.co.za/379680/krugersdorpmurders-did-marcel-have-romantic-feelings-towards-zak-valentine/
Marcel was 14 when the first murder took place. She stated that her brother was threatened multiple times in front of her, and they killed Mikeila and would have killed her (Marcel), should she have “gone against the group”.
With regard to the Meyer murders, Marcel stated that there was nothing she could use as an excuse not to go on the first appointment.
Marcel was prevented from leaving Cecilia’s house. She was not allowed to visit friends or family, as Cecilia said if she did, she (Marcel) would come home with demons and endanger her (Cecilia).
She only slept over at Mikeila and Zak Valentine’s house once or twice, but never more than that.
The Defence then put it to Marcel that she got involved in the murders of her own accord, but she did not agree with their statement.
When asked how she supported her drug habit, Marcel said she got her drug money by working as an extra Maths teacher at Jan de Klerk High School, but added that Cecilia took over a lot of Marcel’s expenses when she moved in with her. She stated that she still smokes dagga sometimes to help her fall asleep.
• State takes over the cross-examination:
Marcel moved in with Cecilia because of Cecilia’s health problems and to help with the children. She knew of Ria Grunewald since 2008, before she had even met her. Marcel was not happy when she heard that she would be staying with Cecilia permanently, as she was under the impression that it would only be for a short while.
At one stage, it was said between Marinda and Cecilia that in the spiritual realm, Cecilia was Marcel’s mother and that Cecilia had that kind of ‘soul ties’ with Marcel.
Cecilia came up with the ‘first idea’ of harming people. Cecilia said that about 15 orphans had died in one night after Natacha Burger said a prayer and it was because of that incident that the murders started.
Marcel was aware of the courses that were presented by Ria, and that Cecilia drafted the study material for them.
Marcel did not recall that Cecilia at any stage expressed that she wanted to kill Ria. Sometimes Cecilia would do a lot of things for Ria and then say that she (Ria) did not appreciate it.
Read about the proceedings of the first day here:
and
https://krugersdorpnews.co.za/379644/i-am-sorry-i-am-really-sorry/
When questioned about Cecilia’s personalities, Marcel stated she was aware that Cecilia had Dissociative Identity Disorder. At one stage, Cecilia said that she had over 1 000 different personalities. Among them was Anja, a three-year-old personality that ‘made’ Cecilia want to colour pictures and so forth. Another personality was Kesha, who would swear a lot. Daphne spoke English and did not drink tea, and there were a few other personalities.
She was then questioned on the instance where blood supposedly came from Cecilia’s mouth. Marcel stated that she [Cecilia] drew blood from a few members of the group and mixed it with a substance that would prevent it from ‘drying up’. She would also mix the blood with glycerine to increase the volume.
Marcel confirmed that there was a tracking device on Ria’s vehicle. Cecilia had this done to keep track of Ria. Marcel said she thought that Cecilia had asked Zak to buy the tracking device, and stated that she (Marcel) had to put it under Ria’s car. The group made pipe bombs too, but according to Marcel they were never used anywhere.
Moving on to Pastor Reginald John Bendixen’s murder, Marcel stated that she went along to create a false sense of calm in Bendixen, because “nobody would do such things with a child present”.
With regard to Natacha’s murder, they used knives as weapons, although they had taken either a hammer or an axe, but did not use it.
When Zak and Mikeila returned after the murder, they gave feedback to Cecilia and gave her the knife that was used during the murder. The group always carried gloves with them to make sure they did not leave fingerprints at the crime scene. Cecilia was satisfied at the outcome of the murder; however, she was upset with Mikeila for running out of the house [after killing Natacha].
Joy Boonzaier was used as a decoy to get hold of Natacha. They had also planned to kill Joy along with Natacha.
With regard to the weapons used, different members of the group would buy the weapons. They also used stolen number plates, which Le Roux would steal from random vehicles while taking a walk. This was Cecilia’s idea, Marcel said.
Marcel stated the only time she stabbed someone was during the murder of Mikeila Valentine.
Zak informed Cecilia that Mikeila wanted to withdraw from the group and this led to her murder. Cecilia came up with the plan to murder her.
Marcel said she could not recall who came up with the plan as to how Mikeila was to be murdered, but usually Cecilia would come up with the initial plan and the rest of the group would contribute their ideas.
They had access to Zak and Mikeila’s residence with a set of extra keys. They carried plastic bags with the weapons inside. She cannot recall if Zak was there when they arrived. They went into the house through the garage.
They entered the bedroom, where Mikeila appeared to be sleeping. Marinda walked up to Mikeila and immediately started hitting her with the hammer. Mikeila tried to block the blows but her movements were very slow. Marcel stabbed Mikeila once in the left side.
They took a few items from the house to make it seem like a robbery, but on the way back to Cecilia’s flat they threw those items out of the window. Marinda changed clothes – she bought cheap clothes which she wore for the murder and then discarded them afterwards.
The plan was that Zak would go home with other people [two estate agents] that afternoon and find Mikeila’s body.
Various amounts of money were given to Cecilia by Zak, but Marcel stated that she does not know the exact amounts. However, it would be a lot of money as the money was supposedly going to the orphans for plane tickets overseas.
When Zak changed jobs, he was not able to contribute to the orphans as much as he used to, so they needed to make another plan to get the money.
Then came the murder of Joan and Peter Meyer, for money. They did not use disguises in the murder of the Meyers as they did not know them. The group believed that there was a safe containing money in the house. They were going to let the couple access the safe for them. Marcel and Marinda were both very surprised when Zak “snapped” and started stabbing the Meyers.
After the Meyer murders, which were not seen as a success, Zak came up with the idea of staging his own death. Cecilia was at that stage the beneficiary on Zak’s life insurance policy. After the faking of Zak’s death, Cecilia was elated. She was told that it took multiple attempts to kill Jarrod Jackson [whose body they used as Zak’s while staging his death] and Cecilia stated that she found that “weird”.
They found places for Zak to stay afterwards that were easily accessible to the group to take him food, but also places where people would not recognise him.
With regard to Zak’s medication, Marcel said that Cecilia paid for it.
Cecilia complained that during the time [when Zak was supposedly dead] he just sat there doing nothing and did not even try to find a way to make an income.
They thought that they would get the money from Zak’s life insurance “pretty soon” and they would give Zak some of the money for him to move away and start a new life.
The Court then adjourned for lunch.
