Accused: Witnesses all lied

2008-10-23 22:22

Pretoria - Two men allegedly linked to the murder of Pretoria resident Kathy Odendaal claimed on Thursday that they had fallen victim to dishonest State witnesses.

Taking the stand in a Springbok rugby jersey, Alfred Matlala told the Pretoria High Court those who linked him to Odendaal's murder were all lying.

Matlala testified that he was on his way home to Mamelodi last year when a truck suddenly appeared in front of him and the three occupants attacked him for no reason.

He said one of the men, who worked for a refuse removal company, fired a shot at him.

The other two had knocked him unconscious with a shovel and a brick, he told the court.

Matlala said he could thereafter not remember anything until waking up in the Garsfontein police cells.

He later heard from fellow accused Tshepo Dithung that police had brought him to Odendaal's house where they smeared blood from the dead woman onto his clothes.

Matlala said police were lying in telling the court how they had found Oosthuizen's jewellery, cash and car keys in his pockets and her cellphone in his underpants barely a quarter of an hour after she was murdered.

Dithung denied any knowledge about the housebreaking in which the same firearm was stolen, although his fingerprints were found at the scene.

The trial continues.

- SAPA