Satanism expert to see “demon boy”
High Court in Pretoria to hear expert testimony on Satanism and the occult in the trial of a teenager, who, two years ago at the age of 14, hacked four family members to death with an axe.
The trial of a teenager convicted of hacking four family members to death with an axe was postponed for a week on Tuesday.
This was done to allow an occult crime specialist and psychologist time to interview the youngster before he is being sentenced.
The teenager earlier admitted that he had killed his mother, grandmother, younger brother and his four-month old baby sister, but claimed he had been possessed by a demon at the time.
He claimed to have been doing research on Satanism on the internet that led to him and a friend carrying out a Satanic ritual daily for three days before the mass killing. He was 14 years old at the time.
Sapa reported that Judge Hennie de Vos postponed sentencing proceedings in the High Court in Pretoria to next Tuesday to allow interviews with the teenager, now aged 16, and with his aunt, who is his guardian, and with the defence and prosecution teams.
The teenager had been labelled the “demon boy” in newspaper reports.
The teenager pleaded guilty to the charges in August last year before De Vos, who was sitting in the Delmas High Court at the time.
A social worker was expected to give testimony on Tuesday.
Prosecutor Marika Jansen van Vuuren told the court an occult specialist and sociologist, Kobus Jonker, wanted to consult with the accused and study the defence expert reports about the accused, before he could give an expert opinion in court.
The teenager admitted that had committed the four murders – his mother, 42, his grandmother, 58, his five-year-old brother and his baby sister. He had used an axe to hack all four the deceased to death on 23 May 2013.
In his plea explanation, the teenager said on the day of the killings he smoked dagga with friends and arrived home not feeling like his usual self.
“There was a noise in my head and a voice calling out ‘kill them, kill them’. When I looked at my family, I saw them as if they were covered in blood.”
He said he had used an axe that was in his room to first kill his mother, then his grandmother and little brother before taking his baby sister outside where he also hacked her to death.
After the killings, the teenager said, the voices had no longer been in his head and he had wanted to commit suicide, but could not.
He was later attacked and beaten by locals. He was saved by the police who had arrived and had arrested him.
“I felt huge anger in me during this incident,” the teenager testified.
Expert reports are required to assist the court in deciding on a proper sentence for the teenager.
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