After a short break, the trial of the remaining three accused in the #KrugersdorpMurders case continued with the State Prosecutor, Gerrit Roberts, presenting the State’s case.
Final arguments are currently under way in the South Gauteng High Court.
Roberts said that over the course of two years, Zak Valentine had given over R2 million to Cecilia for the ‘orphanage’ they were allegedly assisting. Another witness previously testified that she had given over R100 000 in one month and John Barnard even took out a R30 000 loan to fund the ‘orphans’.
Read more on the first session of the final arguments here:
#KrugersdorpMurders — State says Cecilia was the ‘CEO’ of this murderous ‘company’
Roberts went on to explain that the murders were planned down to the smallest details, and even Barnard and Le Roux Steyn were initially fully involved in the planning of the murders of Joan and Peter Meyer, although they did not actively participate. Barnard could not go because the Meyers would have recognised him as he had previously been one of their employees.
He explained that the four appointment murders, those of Kevin McAlpine, Glen McGregor, Hanle Lategan and Anthony Scholefield, were committed in a similar manner, and all the money was handed over to Cecilia afterwards.
When asked why the group members never questioned the reality of the orphanage, Roberts said: “You don’t question the leader of the cult”, explaining that the group could easily be compared to a cult.
Speaking about the threatening messages that were sent to the members of the Overcomers Through Christ (OTC) ministry, he said they could be connected to Ria and her ministry as they revealed intimate knowledge of a hairdresser and a cyclist, which correlated with OTC members. Some of the messages contained information about future murders and could only have been sent by someone who had prior knowledge of the events that occurred.
Marcel’s testimony confirmed a lot of what Le Roux and other witnesses said and had confirmed a lot of the incidents that happened.
The initial threats sent in the SMSes had increased in seriousness until they ended in the murders. These incidents were not random acts of violence but clearly planned incidents meant to hurt Ria, and people close to Ria were chosen as victims. The only one of the group who could benefit from these incidents was Cecilia.
Getting Joyce Boonzaaier to write a letter inviting Natacha Burger to her house, the wrapped gifts for Natacha’s birthday surprise and the fact that they previously went to her house, shows that her murder had been planned in advance, down to the smallest detail.
As with the other crimes, the disguises, the fake number plates, buying different knives for each murder and so much more all show the extensive planning that went into the group’s criminal activities.
Roberts continued to go through previous testimonies, showing how different people corroborated different events that occurred.
He explained that some of the small details in the testimonies could differ but this could be attributed to the different ways people see and remember things. But on the main things, they all agreed.
The Court has taken a short lunch break. Roberts will continue his arguments after the break.
