Trauma counsellor testifies on Freddie Stapelberg’s reaction after Alberton double murder
The court has heard that murder accused Freddie Stapelberg appeared unusually calm after the deaths of his partner and her son.
The double murder trial of Freddie Stapelberg continued on September 2, with an Alberton court hearing further evidence regarding the deaths of Nadine Terblanche and her son, Ruandré Vorster, in November 2023.
Stapelberg is facing two counts of premeditated murder and two counts of attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Trauma counsellor Ashley Thomas told the court that Stapelberg appeared calm when she attended to him at an Alberton hospital after the deaths of his partner, Terblanche, and her son, Vorster.
Thomas, who had worked as a trauma counsellor for six years, said she had known Stapelberg only as a patient.
She had 14 years’ experience in aviation disaster management in the Middle East, including the UAE and Egypt, with about half that time spent working for Dubai’s royal family.
She returned to South Africa in 2019 and resumed work in trauma debriefing at the hospital’s trauma unit.
Her work included cases involving murder, rape, suicide, Covid-19, mental illness and other traumatic events requiring intervention. She could deal with between one and eight cases during a 12-hour shift.
Thomas said she was called from home at about 00:30 because she also worked on a call-out basis. She was briefly told that a woman and child had been murdered and that the patient needed trauma counselling.
Stapelberg’s account of the incident
Thomas said she arrived at the hospital at about 01:00 and saw Stapelberg. She introduced herself and asked him what had happened.
According to Thomas, Stapelberg said he had arrived home as usual between about 16:30 and 17:00 and found the gardener, Pardon Danhire, standing in the lounge with an axe.
Thomas testified that Stapelberg told her Danhire had said Terblanche had been cheating on him and had put witchcraft on him. Danhire then allegedly asked for Stapelberg’s keys and money, after which a physical struggle broke out.
Stapelberg reportedly told her that Danhire attacked him with the axe. During the struggle, he pressed the panic button on his remote. Security then arrived, and the gardener was arrested.
Thomas stressed that she did not witness these events and was only relaying what the patient had told her.
She said Stapelberg told her he had seen Terblanche but had not touched her or rushed to her. She reportedly said Terblanche was still wearing her swimming costume and was wet from the swimming pool.
He also told her that Vorster was lying on a bed and had been strangled. Thomas later testified that Stapelberg said Terblanche had been stabbed, but that he did not know where because there had been a lot of blood.
Defence questions lack of distress
Thomas said Stapelberg’s reaction stood out because he appeared calm and showed little visible distress. She said this was particularly unusual because the deaths involved a child.
She explained that trauma counsellors ask questions about what a person saw and heard to determine how best to assist them. She said people responded differently to trauma, but she did not see the usual indicators she would expect from someone in shock.
During cross-examination, the defence questioned whether Thomas could know how Stapelberg normally reacted emotionally, given that she had never met him before.
She agreed she did not know him personally but maintained that her training and experience allowed her to assess a person’s response to trauma.
Thomas confirmed that she had asked Stapelberg whether he felt anger towards the gardener. He reportedly said he felt no rage because Danhire had already been arrested.
The defence referred Thomas to a police statement she made at her home. She confirmed that the statement recorded that Stapelberg was in a semi-seated position and appeared calm and relaxed, showing no signs of distress.
The matter was postponed to September 9, when further evidence is expected to be heard in the trial.
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