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Fred: I was broken-hearted
25/10/2007 08:58 - (SA)
Llewellyn Prince, Die Burger
Cape Town - Fred van der Vyver said because of his working hours, it would have been impossible for him to murder his 22-year-old girlfriend Inge Lotz in her flat in Stellenbosch.
That was how his four-day cross-examination by Advocate Carine Teunissen, for the State, ended in the Cape High Court on Wednesday.
Advocate Henri Viljoen, SC, for Van der Vyver, did not recall his client after Teunissen's cross-examination.
Judge Deon van Zyl postponed proceedings until October 31 for closing arguments.
A relieved Van der Vyver, 25, was spotted after the proceedings, clearly upbeat, laughing and chatting animatedly on his cellphone as he walked in the street outside the court.
Teunissen put it to him in cross-examination: "In view of the evidence (of a former furniture shop employee who saw him in Stellenbosch on the day of the murder) the fingerprint on the DVD and the defects in Old Mutual's security system, you had the opportunity and did indeed commit the murder."
According to Van der Vyver this was not true, and he had been at the Old Mutual head office in Pinelands from 11:00 to just after 18:00 on March 16 2005.
Teunissen put it to him that he had used the ornamental hammer given to him by Lotz's parents as a Christmas present in 2004, to commit the murder.
"The hammer was under the seat of my bakkie from December 2004 to April 15 2005. I did not use it and I deny it."
Teunissen wanted to know why the hammer, which was of great sentimental value to him had not been taken out of his bakkie.
Apparently, he had forgotten it there.
Van der Vyver denied that he had rented the same copy of the DVD The Stepford Wives, that Inge had watched on the day of her death, several days later, to be able to explain how his fingerprints had been found on it at the murder scene.
He also denied that he wanted to withhold the letter containing personal details that he'd received from Inge on the day of the murder, from the police.
Teunissen found it strange that Van der Vyver and Lotz had parted that morning "while there was still unhappiness and unresolved issues," between them.
"These were aspects that drove her to tears and troubled her. Didn't it bother you that you wouldn't have a chance to discuss them with her again after her death?"
He replied amongst other things: "Her death and everything around it troubled me. I was broken-hearted about everything."
Teunissen said his conflict with his brother the night before the murder was not the only reason for the unhappiness between him and Lotz.
"It was so bad that she told her best friend that you'd had a huge fight and that she had to think about your relationship. I put it to you that matters did not proceed as you've portrayed them."
He denied it.
- Die Burger
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