Vicki Terblanche.
Facebook (Vicki Terblanche).
The boyfriend of murdered Vicki Terblanche, Reinhardt Leach (32) has provisionally abandoned his bail application in the Gqeberha Magistrates Court.
Leach, along with his two co-accused, Vicki’s estranged husband, Arnold Terblanche (55) and 24-year-old Dylan Cullis, are appearing in this court today, November 30 after the bail application was postponed from yesterday until today.
Cullis already indicated on the first day that he would be abandoning bail.
Terblanche is continuing with his bail application. His legal representative, adv. Francois Van Zyl SC, under instruction of Danie Gouws, is currently addressing the court as to why his client should be granted bail. PE Express will keep readers updated throughout today’s proceedings.
11:45 UPDATE: Adv. Francois Van Zyl SC indicates that although the state says that it has a strong case, he is confident of an acquittal in this matter. Whilst his legal representative tries to convince the court that he should be granted bail, Terblanche, dressed in a light blue formal shirt, is earnestly taking notes in the dock with a pen and notebook. He once again smiled at the full gallery as he entered the dock with a bottle of water. Cullis, in a black jacket, remains indifferent. Leach, dressed in a causal blue DHL T-shirt, has his eyes averted most of the time.
Adv Van Zyl: As I understand from Mr Swanepoel (investigating officer)’s affidavit, he says that this whole conspiracy to murder the deceased was a plan put in motion on October 12 during a meeting at Chelsea’s bar between the applicant and Leach. From what we’ve heard in this court, this was a meeting only attended by Leach and the applicant. This claim is nothing more than speculation. There is not a shred of fact but according to the state, this meeting was the start of a conspiracy”.
Adv Van Zyl claims that since it was told in court how close the applicant was to his son, the meeting between Terblanche and Leach could have been to discuss the interests of his son.
“His real concern is his son, a son with ADHD. He wanted to be the primary caregiver of this child. He didn’t want the deceased to be the caregiver because he felt that she wasn’t capable of this,” Adv Van Zyl said.
12:27 UPDATE: Adv Van Zyl (SC) refers to the affidavit made by Terblanche where he stated that on the morning of October 20, 21, when he was on holiday with his girlfriend, he received a message from Leach, saying that he had an argument with Vicki the night before. In this affidavit, Terblanche claimed that Leach told him he had found Vicki in bed with another man.
Van Zyl SC continues to say that during this conversation, Leach didn’t say anything about Vicki’s murder and only allegedly called Terblanche that afternoon to tell him that “the deceased is no longer a problem.” According to Van Zyl SC, if Leach was a man reporting back to his “master” according to the state’s case, it doesn’t make sense that he said nothing about Vicki’s body during that morning’s conversation already.
Swanepoel’s affidavit states that Leach used the other implicated man’s phone the afternoon of October 20 to call Terblanche to say that Vicki was “no longer a problem”.
Adv. Van Zyl: “We know from Swanepoel’s statement that the deceased was killed sometime during the evening of October 18, so one would then expect Leach to report back during the morning of the 20th’s conversation already. “Why not then tell? Why wait until the afternoon? It doesn’t make sense. Unless that message was also a ruse. During the alleged conversation in the afternoon, the applicant also makes no attempt to tell Leach what to do with the body. There’s no discussion. It is highly unlikely that if the applicant was involved, there wouldn’t have been such a discussion.”
13:00 UPDATE: After a
short adjournment, Van Zyl SC continues to deal with the matter of Terblanche’s
minor son that he shares with Vicki. “Dealing with a child with ADHD, those
children need a lot of attention. He is very close to his child. If we look at
the whole situation, the trouble he went to, to become the primary caregiver of
the child. Dealing with a child with psychological problems is a totally
different matter. I would submit that this is an important consideration for
bail. His father is here, his father is concerned. His father is the ideal
person to look after him.”
Adv Van Zyl: “If the applicant is released on bail, it will
not undermine the processes of the justice system. This man has a child with
ADHD. It will be in the best interest of his child if he is released on bail.
Of course, these are serious charges, but the court can impose strict
restrictions. Exceptional circumstances should not place the bar so high that
it makes bail impossible. We say that there are question marks over the state’s
‘strong case,’” Van Zyl SC said.
The application continues.
Source by www.news24.com
