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Tears, cigarette ... then truth
27/03/2008 15:12 - (SA)
Pretoria - The body of seven-year-old Sheldean Human was found as a direct result of a statement to top cop Director Piet Byleveld, the Pretoria High Court heard on Thursday.
Byleveld questioned murder accused Andrew Jordaan, 25, after being asked to help with the investigation into the girl's disappearance about two weeks earlier.
Jordaan has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering, abducting and raping Sheldean and further charges of raping and indecently assaulting another 7-year-old girl over a period of nine months.
Byleveld testified in a trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility of Jordaan's statement about Sheldean's murder, as well as his pointing-out of the scene to police.
He insisted that Jordaan was repeatedly warned of his rights and was never assaulted or threatened in his presence. He said Jordaan had volunteered information, which led to the discovery of the little girl's body in a bushed area behind the Pretoria fresh produce market on March 5 last year.
The girl was last seen alive on February 18.
According to Byleveld, he had confronted Jordaan when the suspect told him he had spent hours in a park with Sheldean and another young girl, but claimed he had not spoken a word to Sheldean. Described Sheldean's clothing
He also described Sheldean's clothing down to the colour of the panties she was wearing.
Jordaan at first told him he had left the two girls at Sheldean's home after buying them food and later claimed Sheldean had followed him for some distance when he walked home. He said the girl had grabbed him around the neck and begged to go home with him because she was not getting food at home.
At one stage, Byleveld asked Jordaan why photos of himself, taken during the investigation of a big murder case, were found in Jordaan's room, to which Jordaan replied that he regarded Byleveld as his hero.
He then became emotional, had tears in his eyes and spontaneously said he wanted to tell Byleveld the truth. After both smoked a cigarette and Byleveld again warned him of his rights, he made a statement to the top cop, which resulted in Byleveld arranging for another officer to take Jordaan for a pointing-out. Pointed out manhole
Byleveld went to the scene after Jordaan had pointed out a manhole in the veld. He was present when the little girl's decomposed body was found in a water stream downstream from the manhole.
The body was so decomposed that the face was not recognizable, although there was still some blonde hair attached to the skull. The tiny body was only dressed in a denim skirt, with no panty or shirt. These items were later found in the drain under the manhole.
Judge Chris Eksteen at one stage warned a relaxed-looking Jordaan to stop looking around and smiling at someone behind him in the audience.
A medical doctor, who examined the alleged rape victim, testified that it would have been almost impossible for a grown man to fully penetrate the little girl because she was so small.
She could not find any evidence that the girl had been raped or anally penetrated, but said she could not rule out that the girl may have been partially penetrated, sodomised or otherwise sexually molested.
The trial continues.
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