Kotzé accused 'not threatened with gun'
2012-04-02 12:17
Modimolle - The three men charged with Johan Kotzé for an attack on his wife were not threatened with a gun, the Modimolle Magistrate's Court heard on Monday.
In an affidavit, investigating officer Hendrick Kruger said that, while pointing out the scene of the crime, they had not mentioned being threatened with a gun.
He said Andries Sithole told the police they tried to rape Kotzé's wife but could not get erections.
Sithole, Peter Mohlako and Sello Frans Mphaka are charged with, among others, rape, murder, conspiracy to rape, kidnapping, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Attack
Kruger said cellphone records indicated that Sithole and Kotzé had made contact 22 times since December 22.
He said that, according to the three, Kotzé told them he wanted them to have sex with his wife because she was too fat and she was divorcing him.
He promised to pay them afterwards.
Kruger said Kotzé ordered them to hide in a wardrobe. When his wife arrived they confronted her, tied her to the bed and tried to rape her.
Afterwards, Kotzé ordered them to go to the kitchen. They ran away.
Kruger said if the three were innocent they would have handed themselves over to the police when they learned that Kotzé had been arrested.
He told the court it was strange that they waited for Kotzé to pick them up after they had run away from his home.
"How could they wait for him if they were afraid of him?" he asked.
Violent crime
Public prosecutor Renier van Rooyen said the three should not be granted bail because the crime they committed was violent.
He said they cut off the wife's nipples, stabbed her breasts with a sharp object and cut her vagina with a side cutter. She was also stabbed with steel nails.
They had been hired to work in the garden of Kotzé's rented home in Modimolle.
Kotzé also lured his stepson to the house and allegedly killed him.
Van Rooyen said if the three were granted bail they might provoke the community, which had staged a number of protests after their arrest.
The proceedings continue.
- SAPA
