Chanelle Henning: Ex phoned suspect
2012-01-17 22:34
Pretoria - One of the five men arrested for the murder of Pretoria mother Chanelle Henning received a call from her ex-husband a few days before her death, the Pretoria Regional Court heard on Tuesday.
Investigating officer Captain Petrus van der Spuy testified that phone records indicated Andre Gouws was called from Nico Henning's phone on the weekend of November 6 2011.
Van der Spuy was testifying in the State's bid to prevent Gouws from getting bail.
According to evidence heard in court earlier during the trial of disgraced former policeman Gerhardus du Plessis and Willem Martinus Pieterse, "a caller" had instructed Gouws to postpone the hit scheduled for that weekend because "the bitch had the baby this weekend".
The Hennings had a son, aged five at the time of his mother's murder. The couple had previously been embroiled in a custody dispute, which Chanelle won.
Mastermind
Without giving a name, Van der Spuy told the court that police had yet to catch "the mastermind" in the matter and anticipated more arrests.
According to Gouws' affidavit, read to the court by his lawyer, he intended pleading not guilty to the charges when the trial started. He said he was severely assaulted when he was arrested, and again later during his detention.
"I've been threatened that I am going to be killed. I am afraid I will not be able to defend myself in court if I am not released on bail."
He stated he was the custodian for his 70-year-old mother, to whom he gave financial support.
Gouws' bail application hearing was adjourned to January 24.
Former Nigerian Olympic athlete, Ambrose Monye, abandoned his bail application. He would be back in the Pretoria Regional Court on February 16.
Monye, 37, Gouws, 47, Preshan Singh, 24, Du Plessis and Pieterse were arrested in November in connection with the drive-by shooting of the young Pretoria mother.
She was shot by two men on a motorbike while driving in Faerie Glen, in the east of Pretoria, on Tuesday, November 8 2011, moments after she dropped off her son at the Morning Star Montessori creche.
Du Plessis and Pieterse were convicted on December 14 and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment each, following a plea bargain.
They pleaded guilty to the murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and illegal possession of ammunition.
- SAPA
