The 23-year-old father, Marthinus Pelser, who was arrested in connection with the death of his six-month-old baby son, will appear at Roodepoort Magistrates’ Court today.
Pelser was arrested on 15 June by Honeydew SAPS after a strenuous five-day-long manhunt.
During his first appearance in court on 17 June, Magistrate Veena Crishna explained to Pelser that the State has classified the offence as Schedule 5. As a result, she advised Pelser to seek legal advice regarding the formal bail application.
Pelser was seen in court for his second appearance where Magistrate Delize Smith asked Pelser if it was correct that he was not applying for bail at this stage, to which he responded, “yes”.
It was discovered he had signed divorce papers from his wife – mother of his deceased son.
In today’s (28 July) brief appearance, Pelser was seen wearing a black hoody jersey and the same blue shirt from his previous visit to court.
For the first time, Pelser’s family was in court. His father, mother, and brother were present at today’s proceedings, including other family members and friends. “We have nothing to say at this time.”
“We have nothing to say at this time.” said Pelser’s father.
The family looked solemn and numb, they had distant but somewhat painful looks on their faces.
The trial has been postponed to 31 August pending post mortem results and crime scene photographs.
