Terre'Blanche caught by surprise - expert

2011-10-18 23:26

Ventersdorp - Murdered rightwing leader Eugene Terre'Blanche was caught by surprise when he was attacked in his North West farmhouse, an expert said on Tuesday.

"There is no blood stain evidence to show the person fought back indicating he was taken by surprise," police blood spatter expert Lieutenant Colonel ol Ian van der Nest told the High Court sitting in Ventersdorp.

"Had the deceased launched self-defence he would have sustained some injuries to the arm."

Van der Nest said it was not clear if rightwing leader Eugene Terre'Blanche was asleep when he was attacked.

"All I can say for sure is that he was lying down in a position similar to the way he was found,"

When defence lawyer Norman Arendse asked how he could be sure about this, Van der Nest said: "Logic."

Farmworker Chris Mahlangu and a minor are accused of beating and hacking Terre'Blanche to death in his farmhouse in North West in April last year.

Both have pleaded not guilty to murder, housebreaking and attempted robbery with aggravating circumstances.

Van der Nest said blood spatter evidence showed that the 69-year-old Terre'Blanche was lying on his bed when he was struck repeatedly with extreme force. A heavy instrument used to beat him was swung like a baseball bat at a 90° angle.

His evidence revealed that self-defence was unlikely as there were no injuries on the former Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging (AWB) leader’s arms.

The mattress, on which the body lay, was soaked in blood and Van der Nest dismissed suggestions that Terre'Blanche could have been hit while standing and then fell onto the bed.

Van der Nest said evidence revealed that Terre'Blanche's pants were open and his genitals exposed before he was killed, and that blood was found on his penis.

Sex allegations emerged after the murder when police commissioner General Bheki Cele said a condom was found on the scene.

Arendse earlier said there were allegations of verbal, physical and sexual abuse, and that potential witnesses were afraid to testify.

He did not say who was sexually abused.

Underpants on bed post

On Tuesday, police witness Captain Jacobus Rautenbach said sperm was seen on Terre'Blanche's genitals.

"I also saw on the genitals that there was sperm on the tip of the penis."

Rautenbach was one of several police officers who attended the crime scene. While recalling how the bedroom looked on April 3 last year, he remembered that Terre’Blanche's underpants were hanging on the bed post.

The captain said the two accused of killing Terre'Blanche went all out to destroy him.

"They went there with the intention to maim him. They wanted to destroy him."

Arendse said he could not continue with the cross-examination until Rautenbach’s diary for last year and other documents were made available to him.

The witness was asked to stand down and would be called back when the documents were available to the defence.

Mahlangu has said he was sorry about the incident.

"He is bitterly, bitterly sorry about the incident," said his lawyer Kgomotso Tlouane.

He said the more Mahlangu heard in court about the murder, the more sorry he felt.

Mahlangu claims he acted in self-defence while the 16-year-old denies involvement in the murder.

- SAPA