Eddie Hills and his father, Pieter Hills. Picture: Facebook/Virtual memorials - South Africa Attacks and their stories.
The two suspects arrested in connection with the murder of 56-year-old Swartpan farm owner, Pieter Hills, from Hennenman, Free State, abandoned their bail bid on Monday in the Hennenman Magistrate’s Court.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson in the Free State, Phaladi Shuping, said the matter was postponed to 9 December for further investigations.
Shuping said according to the defence lawyer of the two accused – Patrick Bochedi and Mojalefa Modise – he only received the instruction to represent the pair on Monday morning and consulted them for the first time on Monday morning.
The bail application was abandoned because there was outstanding information which the defence lawyer needed to verify, Shuping added.
The NPA intended to oppose the bail application on Monday and would do so once it was brought before the court, Shuping said.
Police initially arrested four suspects in connection with Hill’s murder, however, the one suspect allegedly committed suicide while in the holding cells.
Shuping said the charges against accused number three were withdrawn because the state was not convinced that there was enough evidence for them to be charged.
The spokesperson of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) Ndileka Cola was yet to confirm whether the directorate was investigating the alleged suicide in custody of the one suspect.
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