Pretoria - A trial-within-a-trial started in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, yesterday as legal teams challenged the admissibility of confessions allegedly made by a woman, 21, and her co-accused on trial for wiping out her entire family.
The woman from Mmakau near Brits appeared alongside the two alleged “hitmen” – her cousins.
They challenged the admissibility of the confessions submitted by the State, saying her constitutional rights had been violated by police.
The woman, 16 at the time of the incident in 2016, alleged her legal rights were not explained to her and that she had been coerced into making the confessions to the police. She claimed she had been misled by the police who took down her statement.
Her co-accused also claimed his alleged confession was obtained in the absence of his legal representative; he was also not given an opportunity to consult with a lawyer before his statements. The third accused alleged he was assaulted by officers in a minibus taxi upon his arrest, and then forced to confess to playing a role in the crime.
All three accused, who cannot be named because they were minors at the time the crimes took place, are facing four counts of murder, one of theft, and another of robbery with aggravating circumstances.
They have all pleaded not guilty.
Earlier, Warrant Officer William Mashaba, a retired officer from Mmakau who attended the crime scene on December 6, 2016, testified. Upon arrival, he said, they found a man he knew and had trained, lying face down in a pool of blood. On inspection of the house, they found a woman lying face-up on the bed also in a pool of blood. In another bedroom he found a woman sitting on the floor at the edge of a bed, also in a pool of blood. In the same room was a boy, believed to be 6, sitting on the bed, unharmed.
The father, who was a police officer, was shot in the head and chest, and the mother multiple times. The accused’s sister was shot in the head, while her 3-year-old brother suffered a gunshot wound to the chest.
In the trial-within-a-trial , Captain Kandalo Paulus stressed that he had informed the first accused of his rights when taking down his statement.
Pretoria News