Griekwastad evidence handled 'properly'
2013-03-12 22:34
Kimberley - All forensic evidence in the Griekwastad farm killings was handled properly, despite some administrative errors, the Northern Cape High Court heard on Tuesday.
Northern Cape Judge President Frans Kgomo was hearing evidence in the triple murder trial of a 16-year-old boy.
Prosecutor Hannes Cloete painstakingly went through an album of about 140 photos of forensic evidence taken at the Griekwastad police station and the farm by forensic investigator Lieutenant Andre McAnda.
The boy is accused of murdering Northern Cape farmer Deon Steenkamp, 44, his wife Christelle, 43, and daughter Marthella, 14, on the farm Naauwhoek, near Griekwastad, on 6 April 2012.
McAnda testified that the forensic investigation of the scene only ended around 01:00 on the morning of 17 April 2012.
He said that when back at the office he made a mistake with the typing of some numbers on little evidence bags. This was later discovered and corrected.
Parts of the police photo album show how the first policeman on the scene found the victims. Farmer Deon Steenkamp was found on his stomach, as was his wife Christelle.
Marthella was lying on her side, next to her mother.
The woman's clothes and the girl's neon-green shirt were blood-stained.
When the court was shown photos of the victims' faces on a screen in the courtroom, the boy looked away.
McAnda explained each photo in the album, including those of blood spatters on the back door of the farm house.
He said to limit contamination all policemen on the scene wore protective equipment, known as "moon suits", which covered them from head to toe.
The photos show blood splatters on the tiled floor of the kitchen, on a kitchen cupboard, and on a black telephone on the kitchen counter.
The phone's handset is off the hook. There appear to be blood smears on the phone and on the counter next to it.
McAnda testified that two cooldrink glasses were found on the floor outside the kitchen. The kitchen's stable door was damaged.
McAnda was also present during the post mortems of the three victims, to take photos.
Reasonable explanation
Before the forensic team went to the farm they were at the Griekwastad police station. Residue tests were done on the boy.
McAnda said he collected evidence, as requested by investigator Colonel Dick de Waal.
The investigators recorded vehicles, a revolver and six cartridges, a .22 rifle, a pair of shorts, and a maroon and green T-shirt.
The court heard that a blood swab taken at this time went missing.
McAnda said the investigator wanted the shorts because apparently there was blood on them.
He testified he did not immediately collect them because the boy had a reasonable explanation for the blood.
"He helped the [girl] in the house."
McAnda testified about a kitchen knife found on the road to the farm house. He however excluded it from the evidence because it appeared to have been lying there for some time.
An abandoned bakkie found on the road to the farm was also examined, but no evidence was found.
The case was adjourned to Wednesday.
- SAPA
