THE murder trial of Cheryl Delport and her co-accused, Edward Fischer, will start at Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on February 17 and will continue until February 28.
Delport and Fischer are accused of murdering Leon Sim (71) and his wife, Marié (68) on August 23, 2012 at their Cresslawn home from which they ran Annalien’s Guesthouse, where Fischer and Delport had stayed a few months prior to the murders.
Const Sharon Mahamba, Sebenza SAPS spokesman, said the two last appeared on December 2, four days after Delport had given birth to her baby while in custody after the court had denied her application to be placed in a place of safety.
The two, who were lovers at the time of the murders, will each face two counts of murder, one of theft and another of arson. If they are found guilty ,they will each face life imprisonment.
Fischer and Delport were arrested several hours after the murders but Delport was released from custody as police had insufficient evidence to link her to the crimes at the time. She was again nabbed in March last year in Hekpoort near Magaliesburg.
In a separate case, Shaheed Leen (42), the man accused of the murders of Bonaero couple, Percy (70) and Noleen (65) Whitmore, who were attacked and murdered in their home on August 4, 2011, will appear again on February 21.
According to Capt Jethro Mtshali, Kempton Park SAPS spokesman, the case has been postponed for further investigation.
During Leen’s previous appearance, police were still waiting for results from cell phone records, DNA tests as well as transactions from the Whitmore’s bank cards believed to have been used after the murders.
He was arrested in Cape Town last year in October and was denied bail on the grounds that the circumstances presented to the court were insufficient to qualify him as a suitable candidate.
