Pitt Street murders: Investigating officer gives damning testimony
Proves the accused and convicted were on scene for a long period.
The investigating officer (IO) in the Pitt Street murders case, Captain Odi Odendaal, yesterday gave his testimony in the Gauteng High Court, and once again plunged another nail into the coffin of the accused, Thando Notshe.
Also read: Elderly couple found murdered
Odendaal testified about the murder scene and how four different types of ropes were used to tie up the deceased, David and Vera Gaunt, which implies that they did not just grab the ropes they had found in the garage, but actively went and looked for them. He also testified that very complex knots were used. Furthermore he told the court that the plastic bags that were put over the Gaunts’ heads came from the kitchen and not the garage.
Also read: Pitt Street Murders: Inside the mind of a killer
He also testified that the fact that all the rooms in the double-storey house were ransacked means that the accused and Tshepo Ntsatsi (who has already been convicted of murder after entering into a plea bargain with the State) were on the scene for a long period of time and that not only Notshe was inside the house. This discredited Ntsatsi’s statement that Notshe had left the scene before him and had nothing to do with the murders.
Also read: Devastating blow for Pitt Street murder accused
Notshe also contradicted his own statement in which he said he was assaulted by the police and told what to say in his statement, but then claimed he was promised his freedom if he cooperated.
According to the State, represented by Senior State Advocate Deon van Wyk, the fact that the accused and Ntsatsi were in the house for a long period of time, means Notshe could not have been in the house alone and did not leave early as Ntsatsi claimed.
The trial will continue tomorrow 22 June.
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