I'm sorry, says lion man
2005-08-11 12:49
Phalaborwa - Lion-murderer Mark Scott-Crossley was prepared to reopen old wounds about the disappearance of his sister Tracy Lee, he told the Phalaborwa circuit court on Thursday during sentencing proceedings.
Scott-Crossley has been found guilty of masterminding the premeditated murder of farmworker Nelson Chisale by throwing him to lions.
"Let's do it. I've got the balls for it. Let's see if you can hurt me with the disappearance of my sister. You want to open up that wound, let's open it up," he told prosecutor Ivy Thenga.
However, the angry Scott-Crossley, asked the court to allow him to consult briefly with a doctor before answering questions about his sister.
This was after Judge George Maluleke, told him the defence had raised the issue of his sister's disappearance and if he did not answer the prosecutor's questions, the court might ignore all reference to his sister in mitigation of sentence.
Tracy Lee Scott-Crossley was one of six schoolgirls who disappeared in 1988 and 1989 shortly before paedophile Gert van Rooyen and his mistress Joey Haarhoff committed suicide in a police chase.
"Did you know Gert van Rooyen?" Thenga asked. "Of course I knew Gert van Rooyen, we had drinks together," Scott-Crossley angrily retorted.
He later apologised for his "facetious" remarks, explaining that he had responded to a ridiculous question with a ridiculous answer. "We saw photographs of him and Joey Haarhoff, his common law wife, after they had been shot."
It was the 17th anniversary of her disappearance on August 1, he told the court, appealing for its indulgence if he got a bit emotional. "That (Tracy Lee) was the most special friend I had."
He felt guilty about her disappearance because he had not been where he was supposed to be at the time. "If I was there, maybe I would have saved my sister's life."
Premeditated murder
Maluleke convicted Scott-Crossley in April of masterminding the premeditated murder of Chisale. Co-accused Simon Mathebula had acted in concert with him in committing the murder, the court found.
Scott-Crossley and Mathebula both pleaded not guilty when their trial started at the end of January, almost a year after they killed Chisale, 41, who was viciously assaulted then thrown to lions in an encampment at the Mokwalo White Lion Project.
A third accused, Richard "Doctor" Mathebula, 41, no relation to his co-accused, also pleaded not guilty. His trial was separated from theirs after he was hospitalised for tuberculosis.
Giving evidence in mitigation of sentence on Thursday, Scott-Crossley said he had been "kept like an animal" for the 20 months of his trial - and this was behind his many outbursts in court, for which he apologised.
"The Mark you see now is definitely not the free-loving, free-spirited person from outside.
"The day before this happened, if somebody had said I would have been able to cause so much pain to so many people, I would have laughed at him.
"I'm not sure if there is a member of Nelson's family here or not. The pain I put that family through, their friends, their loved ones," he said.
Scott-Crossley apologised to the prosecutor for the documents and photographs she had had to go through time and time again, as he did to the judge and assessors.
He also apologised to the people of South Africa and President Thabo Mbeki in particular "for the embarrassment I caused the country".
"I can only try to imagine the questions he (Mbeki) has had to answer about what's happened in his new democracy," he said, going on to deny that the killing was racially motivated.
"To my legal team, I haven't been the easiest guy to work with. To my little boy, my dad, my brother, and mom, I would never have wanted to cause this pain to them.
Incarcerated
"To the community where we live, by me being incarcerated I've cost 94 people and their families a living.
"There is no saying sorry enough. I'm so sorry this happened. If I'd taken a different decision at lunch time, I wouldn't be standing here having to say sorry to anyone."
Scott-Crossley said his family had begun a process of ubuntu with government officials and the Chisale family, but that they had agreed to hold on until the court case was finalised. He and his family could support them "until they are old".
Arguing that he should not be sent to prison, Scott-Crossley that would not "take the best interests of those I have to apologise to into account. If I go inside, it just adds to the burden the State has to pay for me...
"If my life carries on as it did the day before (the murder) I believe I can give something back to the family."
It emerged on Thursday that Scott-Crossley suffers from a type of epilepsy induced by a chemical imbalance.
In earlier hearings, the court was told that all that was found of Chisale in the encampment was a shaft of long bones, a skull with no mandible, fragments of rib, vertebrae, pelvic girdle and a finger, his shredded shirt and ripped pair of khaki trousers.
Chisale's remains were buried at his birthplace at Maboloka village, in Brits, North West, last March, after a court found that the dignity of his family outweighed the right of the accused to a fair trial. The defence had applied to stop the funeral for a forensic pathologist to perform tests on his bones to determine the time and cause of death.
The court has set aside three days for the hearing of evidence in mitigation and aggravation of the sentences to be imposed on Scott-Crossley and Mathebula.
- SAPA