Bid to move murder trial fails
2005-06-22 16:01
Rustenburg - The murder trial of a farmer and his son - accused of killing and burning two men - will go ahead in Mogwase in North West after an application to move the trial to Pretoria was dismissed on Wednesday.
Defence advocate Johan Engelbrecht said the Mogwase Circuit Court had dismissed the application.
However, the accused planned to appeal against this, and the case was postponed to a date to be arranged to allow for this application to be made.
Engelbrecht believed that only a Pretoria Court had the jurisdiction to hear the case.
He has 21 days to submit the application.
The 54-year-old farmer and his 16-year-old son are accused of killing Sello Morris Morua and Zacharia Leso of Ramokokastad near Sun City last April.
Human-bones ash found in grave
The two left on a donkey cart to check cattle at a cattle post in Ditshweneng and were never seen again. Two of their hunting dogs returned home on their own.
The teenager was arrested at school in Thabazimbi after he was found with a cellphone allegedly belonging to one of the victims. His father was arrested later.
Police found ash in a shallow grave, revealed by forensic tests to be from human bones.
The farmer is out on bail of R30 000 and his son on R10 000. They may not be named because the son is still a minor.
On Monday, Engelbrecht argued it would be in the accused's best interests if the case was heard in Pretoria as most witnesses would be from there or Potchefstroom.
Prosecutor Rapula Molefe wanted the case to heard in Mogwase because of public interest in the case.
- SAPA