WITH 19 counts against them, the six accused in the Van Rooyen farm attack case have entered ‘not guilty’ pleas at the Vryheid Magistrates’ Court as day 3 of the trial got underway this morning.
The charges against them include first-degree murder, murder, robbery with aggravated assault, attempted murder, kidnapping and numerous weapons charges, including the unlawful possession of automatic and semi-automatic weapons.
The six alleged attackers shook their heads in collective denial as each charge was explained to them before the court and they were afforded the opportunity to enter their pleas.
Judge Barnard explained to the accused that the minimum sentences, if convicted of the charges against them, would range from five years minimum on the kidnapping and attempted murder charges, to life sentences for the charges of murder and first-degree murder. The accused confirmed that they understood this.
Council for the defendants each confirmed that the accused, on the instruction of their attorneys, would exercise their right to remain silent.
Senior State Prosecutor, Adv Andrè Ludick addressed the court, establishing that the state was to rely on two witnesses in the case against the six accused, who allegedly took part in the massacre that claimed the lives of William van Rooyen and his father-in-law, Ronnie Lombard on the fateful night of the attack on the Van Rooyen home two years ago. The one witness is an accomplice, while the second is a convicted accomplice in the same crime.
Adv Ludick pointed out several other key factors that placed the accused at the scene of the crime at the time of the brutal double murder.
The accused were identified in numerous identification parades and ballistic evidence linked some of them to the scene. Fingerprint evidence linked at least one of the suspects, while DNA evidence found on one of the accused placed him at the scene of the crime in question. Items recovered in the possession of one of the accused linked him to the crime as well and previous statements made by certain of the accused to magistrates implicated them in the attack.
The prosecution for the state then called to the witness stand witness number 64 in the case, Warrant Officer ES Mazibuko, a specialist in crime scene investigation from Forensic Services in Newcastle, who had compiled a 161-page album of photos and sketches of the crime scene from April 20 to April 21, 2016, as well as the post-mortems of the deceased.
This album was introduced to the court as Exhibit A and council for the defense confirmed that they were all in possession of a copy thereof.
Adv Ludick thereafter proposed that court proceedings continue at 9:30am on April 19, giving council the opportunity to visit the crime scene for the remainder of the day on April 18.
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