Freddie Stapelberg murder trial postponed as defence advocate remains unavailable
The murder trial was unable to continue on Wednesday because his defence advocate was unavailable. Proceedings are expected to resume on August 12 after the state presented its first witnesses.
The murder trial of Frederick Stapelberg, also known as Freddie Stapelberg, was postponed in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on August 5, after his defence advocate was unavailable to continue with the proceedings.
The matter had been scheduled to continue after the court heard evidence from the State’s first witnesses when the trial officially started last week. However, because the defence advocate was unavailable, the court postponed the case to August 12, when the trial is expected to continue.
Stapelberg is facing two counts of premeditated murder and two counts of attempted murder linked to the deaths of Alberton mother Nadine Terblanche and her son, Ruandré Vorster, in November 2023. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Trial begins
The long-awaited trial officially began on July 29 in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, sitting as part of the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa. Proceedings had already been delayed for two days before the trial started because the defence advocate was unavailable.
After the charges were read, Stapelberg pleaded not guilty and the state began leading evidence from its first witnesses.
First evidence heard
The state first called former CPS Security armed response officer Pier Odendaal, who testified that he responded to a panic alarm at the Randhart property. He told the court he found two men struggling over an axe, identified one of them as Stapelberg and arrested co-accused Pardon Danhire after the incident.
The court also heard evidence from CPS tactical officer Matthew Callow, who testified that he found a woman performing CPR on a young boy before paramedics discovered the body of a woman inside the house. He also told the court he noticed minor injuries on Stapelberg.
CPS Security general manager Angela van der Merwe later presented control room records showing that four panic alarms were received from the property within minutes, confirming the timeline of the security company’s response.
The defence cross-examined all three witnesses before the matter was adjourned.
Matter postponed
The matter was postponed to August 12, when the trial is expected to continue.
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