A former Edenvale business owner, Jorge Peres (53), says he had no recollection of how he was arrested after his wife’s body was found in their Johannesburg home with multiple stab wounds.

Peres appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court last week for his formal bail application. A week after he was arrested for the murder of his wife, Belinda (52) on November 24.

He was arrested at The Reid estate in Linbro Park, Sandton on the same day.

In court, the prosecution stated that Belinda’s body was bruised and that she had stab wounds to her upper body.

The Bedford and Edenvale News previously reported that Sandringham Police Station’s communications officer Sergeant Phindile Mavuso said officers responded to the scene after Belinda’s family contacted the police.

Mavuso said Belinda’s body was found in the kitchen of the house. No murder weapon was found following a search.

“They found the suspect hiding on top of an electricity box 100m from the scene, inside the complex,” said Mavuso.

According to the prosecutor, Belinda requested assistance from her family and informed her sister that she had been stabbed. Family members and complex security personnel rushed to her residence.

At the home, they discovered an off-duty police officer and the initial responding security officer trying to gain access to the residence.

Once access was gained, Belinda’s body, which was covered in blood, was found lying on her back. It is believed Jorge was still at the property at this time but fled through a window.

After obtaining a description of Peres from family members, officers searched the complex and located him on top of an electrical box when they spotted his feet.

He was arrested and thereafter taken to Sandringham Police Station where an ambulance was called to treat an injury on his legs. It is unclear how his legs were injured.

Peres was discharged from hospital and taken into police custody on November 29.

Peres’ affidavit stated he was arrested at Tembisa Hospital on November 24 under the circumstances of not having a coherent recollection of what happened as he was heavily sedated at the time.

He claims to have had no recollection as to how he was admitted to the hospital and believes he was unconscious because of a diabetic coma.

Arguing in support of bail, the defence stated that the accused was devasted and deeply hurt by his wife’s death.

The defence claimed their client had no previous convictions or pending cases and was not prone to violence. It was stated that although the accused had two passports both had expired.

Peres’ legal representatives stated that he has no intention to intimidate witnesses or interfere with the case and intends to comply fully and argued that remaining in custody could affect Peres’ medical condition, which include nervousness, anxiety mood swings and type one diabetes.

Opposing his bail application, the prosecution argued that although his passports had expired Peres enjoyed dual citizenship and was a citizen of Portugal.

The prosecutor said all state witnesses were family members, Peres owned multiple properties, he fled the scene of the crime and was the only suspect.

The prosecution informed the court that post-mortem results and several statements were still outstanding.

Shortly before the court adjourned for lunch an affidavit, from the victim’s son, was entered into the court record.

The son’s affidavit claimed that there were several incidents of aggression by Peres towards his wife. It detailed one occasion where the victim needed to stay away from work for a week.

It also included printouts of photographs of the victim and messages to family members that detailed previous incidents between the couple.

Providing further reasons why Peres should be granted bail, the defence pointed out that residents and applicants are guaranteed the presumption of innocence and that the prosecution had not proven why it would be in the interest of justice to deny Peres bail.

It highlighted that Peres was a SA citizen who has no previous convictions, and a property portfolio worth millions of rands while the state still needed to clarify exactly how the victim died and obtain additional evidence.

In response to this, the prosecutor argued that the state had provided all information it had available and needed additional time to obtain further evidence. The state requested the next court date be set in January for further investigation.

The magistrate said in the bail deliberation, the affidavit by the son described Peres as an ‘evil person’.

He said what counted against the accused was that he fled the murder scene, therefore displaying an unwillingness to cooperate, his access to funds, his alleged previous aggressive behaviour and having dual citizenship.

The court said although his passports had expired it viewed the matter negatively as this information wasn’t shared with the court.

Bail was denied and Peres will remain in custody until his next court appearance on January 23.

Belinda was laid to rest on December 2.

She was killed a day before the launch of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign. Started 20 years ago, the international campaign was launched to create awareness about GBV. It starts annually on November 25.

•In court, the newspaper learned Belinda died after being stabbed during the early hours of November 24 and not on November 23 as previously reported.