WATCH: Alberton murder-accused couple remanded back into custody
Werner Jack Schoeman (41) and Delichia Bekker (43) stand accused of killing Susan Gillian Murray, who lived in Verwoerdpark at the time of her death.
A court case involving the murder of deceased Verwoerdpark resident Susan Gillian Murray was again at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on April 1.
Susan’s decomposed body was found in Alberton North, in November 2023.
The accused are Werner Jack Schoeman (41) and Delichia Bekker (43). Schoeman was arrested while in hiding in South Hills, in 2023.
Bekker, Susan’s daughter, is accused of being involved in the death of her own mother and arrested days before Schoeman.
Schoeman and Bekker were dating and living with Susan on Oribi Street in Verwoerdpark.
The couple’s lawyer argued for the release of Schoeman and Bekker because the delays in the case infringed on their right to a speedy trial.
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Schoeman and Bekker’s lawyer said the couple has been in custody since 2023 with no trial date set and asked the court to release them.
The lawyer said the State’s prosecution team caused the delays.
The prosecutor in the case requested the presiding magistrate for a postponement because the case docket was not before the court. The previous prosecutor did not hand over the docket to the new prosecutor assigned to this case.
@albertonrecord A court case involving the murder of deceased Verwoerdpark resident Susan Gillian Murray was again at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on April 1. Susan’s decomposed body was found in Alberton North, in November 2023. The accused are Werner Jack Schoeman (41) and Delichia Bekker (43). Schoeman was arrested while in hiding in South Hills, in 2023. Bekker, Susan’s daughter, is accused of being involved in the death of her own mother and arrested days before Schoeman. Schoeman and Bekker were dating and living with Susan on Oribi Street in Verwoerdpark. The couple’s lawyer argued for the release of Schoeman and Bekker because the delays in the case infringed on their right to a speedy trial. Read full story on albertonrecord.co.za
The prosecutor requested a postponement of the matter for a formal handover of the docket to her before they could proceed.
The presiding magistrate granted a week’s postponement to allow the State time for a formal handover of the docket to the new prosecutor assigned to the case.
The magistrate said she could not release Schoeman and Bekker because of the seriousness of the charges against them and as the prosecutor is new to the case she wanted to grant her time to familiarise herself with the case docket.
During the proceedings, Schoeman appeared calm but got increasingly irritated when an Alberton Record journalist kept taking pictures and videos of him while he was in the dock.
Bekker remained calm and did not express emotions during the proceedings.
Following the magistrate ordering that they remain in custody, a frustrated Schoeman gave a journalist the middle finger on his way back to the holding cells.
Both are expected to be back in court on April 8.
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