The three men accused of murdering Mbombela anaesthetist Dr Nicholas Procter on January 31, Bheki Ndlovu (38), Nkateko Tshidzumba (24) and Siyabonga Kekana (20), appeared in the Nelspruit Regional Court at 10:00 today.

The state prosecutor asked for a postponement as the state still awaits evidence in the case. Some of the evidence they are awaiting includes three witness statements, search warrants, video footage and the post-mortem report.

The magistrate postponed the matter to June 7. She further advised that the men will not appear in person in June but via a live camera link from the prison where they are being held.

During the hearing, the attorney for Tshidzumba and Kekana expressed her wish to withdraw as the attorney on record for the two accused. While on the stand, the two men expressed their wish to apply for representation by a Legal Aid attorney.

Tshidzumba and Kekana’s grandmother told Lowvelder they can no longer afford their attorney’s legal fees.

The same Legal Aid attorney will now represent all three.

Ndlovu appeared significantly skinnier than he had been in February. His denim jeans kept slipping down as he stood in the benches; he had to keep pulling them up.

The three last appeared in court on February 23, the day Procter would have celebrated his 40th birthday, where they were all denied bail. The men are facing charges of attempted theft, theft, robbery with aggravated circumstances, kidnapping and murder.

Procter was found dead with his hands and feet tied in a flat that was run as a vacation rental unit in the Mopani block of Green Valley Estate on February 1. He was first reported missing when he did not show up for work at Mediclinic Nelspruit that morning.

A fourth suspect, believed to be the mastermind behind the crime, is still at large.