TRUCK driver Mohammed Sathar, who allegedly killed Margate man Richard Duxbury (35) in an incident on the M4 near Montclair two years ago, appeared in court last Thursday.
According to a report, no DNA evidence or fingerprints were found on a miniature baseball bat that Mr Sathar claimed was used by his ‘attackers’ during the shooting incident.
Sathar has pleaded not guilty to murdering Duxbury and ‘aiming a firearm’ in February 2012.
The States alleges that Duxbury, who was travelling with his father Brian, was shot and killed as he approached Sathar’s truck after Sathar had allegedly forced them off the road.
The defence’s version is that Sathar slowed down upon seeing the men, and that they jumped on to the steps of his truck.
He claims that he was assaulted through the window, and so he reached for his firearm, and as he did so a shot went off and he fled.
Last Thursday, the investigating officer Warrant Officer Marius van der Looy, handed the miniature baseball bat in to court as an exhibit.
W/O Van der Looy said fingerprint analysis and DNA testing on the bat had come up negative.
Sathar’s advocate, Ravi Reddy, said his client believed the bat looked similar to the one he had found in his truck after the incident.
“My client says the bat had initials near the handle as well as a footprint where he had stepped on it (the bat). It’s the same bat,” said Adv Reddy.
Sergeant Amos Mthombeni testified that he had collected exhibits at the crime scene, including a cartridge case. He also took photographs.
Prosecutor Nadira Moosa closed the State’s case and Reddy asked for an adjournment to prepare the defence’s case.
The case was postponed to June.
