High Court sets new date for Rehoboth wife-killing case

A REHOBOTH man accused of fatally stabbing his wife in November 2002, faces an almost three-month wait before his murder trial is scheduled to continue in the High Court in Windhoek.

Acting Judge Kato van Niekerk on Wednesday postponed the trial of murder suspect Prollius van Zyl (32) to July 21 after hearing the testimony of the first prosecution witness to give evidence in his trial. The murder case against Van Zyl returned to the High Court after a three-week break on Wednesday.Van Zyl is accused of killing his wife, Johanna Melinda van Zyl (37), at the couple’s home at Rehoboth during the early morning hours of November 23 2002.It is alleged that he stabbed her eight times with a knife, with three of the stab wounds on the left side of her neck, and another behind her left ear.When his trial started before Acting Judge Van Niekerk three weeks ago, Van Zyl offered a plea of guilty to a charge of murder, admitting that he was responsible for killing his wife.When he testified in mitigation of sentence, though, he told the court that he had not intended to hurt his wife.This prompted the Acting Judge to enter a ‘not guilty’ plea.That further prompted the first postponement in his trial.The prosecution was then again set the task of presenting evidence to the court to prove its case against Van Zyl.Deputy Prosecutor General Louis du Pisani started with that task on Wednesday, when he called Police Sergeant Leo Jeremia as the State’s first witness.Jeremia testified about photographs he took at the crime scene on the day of the incident, and described to the court what witnesses – including an eyewitness to the stabbing – had told him about what had happened.When he testified earlier this month, Van Zyl had told the court that the stabbing – of which he claimed not to have any actual recollection – happened after he and his wife had ended up fighting for possession of a knife he was carrying on his belt.They had quarrelled after he arrived home in the early morning hours.Before he returned home, he had been drinking at various places in, near and on the way to Rehoboth, according to Van Zyl.He told the court that he and his wife tussled over the knife.The next thing he could recall was seeing her sitting on the ground next to him, blood spurting from her neck.Shocked, he ran off.At that stage, Mrs Van Zyl had been heading for the Police barracks on the property next to the Van Zyl’s house in Rehoboth’s Block B area, Van Zyl told the court.According to Jeremia, a witness at the barracks showed him the points at the scene of the stabbing, inside the Van Zyls’ yard, where he heard Mrs Van Zyl scream and saw her fall to the ground.Jeremia was also shown where the witness had seen Mrs Van Zyl climb over a fence on the way to the barracks, and where the witness met her in a doorway at the barracks, before she was taken to hospital.A trail of blood on the ground still bore testimony to her vain efforts to get to safety and to save her life.These marks, too, could be seen on the photographs handed to the court as evidence.Du Pisani told the court that one of the reasons why the trial could not proceed on Wednesday was because Detective Chief Inspector Nelius Becker, who took down a confession from Van Zyl, was not available to testify.He would be able to testify only in some two months’ time, the court was told.Van Zyl, who is being represented by Mel Harmse of Metcalfe Legal Practitioners, was remanded in custody until his case returns to court.The murder case against Van Zyl returned to the High Court after a three-week break on Wednesday.Van Zyl is accused of killing his wife, Johanna Melinda van Zyl (37), at the couple’s home at Rehoboth during the early morning hours of November 23 2002.It is alleged that he stabbed her eight times with a knife, with three of the stab wounds on the left side of her neck, and another behind her left ear.When his trial started before Acting Judge Van Niekerk three weeks ago, Van Zyl offered a plea of guilty to a charge of murder, admitting that he was responsible for killing his wife.When he testified in mitigation of sentence, though, he told the court that he had not intended to hurt his wife.This prompted the Acting Judge to enter a ‘not guilty’ plea.That further prompted the first postponement in his trial.The prosecution was then again set the task of presenting evidence to the court to prove its case against Van Zyl.Deputy Prosecutor General Louis du Pisani started with that task on Wednesday, when he called Police Sergeant Leo Jeremia as the State’s first witness.Jeremia testified about photographs he took at the crime scene on the day of the incident, and described to the court what witnesses – including an eyewitness to the stabbing – had told him about what had happened.When he testified earlier this month, Van Zyl had told the court that the stabbing – of which he claimed not to have any actual recollection – happened after he and his wife had ended up fighting for possession of a knife he was carrying on his belt.They had quarrelled after he arrived home in the early morning hours.Before he returned home, he had been drinking at various places in, near and on the way to Rehoboth, according to Van Zyl.He told the court that he and his wife tussled over the knife.The next thing he could recall was seeing her sitting on the ground next to him, blood spurting from her neck.Shocked, he ran off.At that stage, Mrs Van Zyl had been heading for the Police barracks on the property next to the Van Zyl’s house in Rehoboth’s Block B area, Van Zyl told the court.According to Jeremia, a witness at the barracks showed him the points at the scene of the stabbing, inside the Van Zyls’ yard, where he heard Mrs Van Zyl scream and saw her fall to the ground.Jeremia was also shown where the witness had seen Mrs Van Zyl climb over a fence on the way to the barracks, and where the witness met her in a doorway at the barracks, before she was taken to hospital.A trail of blood on the ground still bore testimony to her vain efforts to get to safety and to save her life.These marks, too, could be seen on the photographs handed to the court as evidence.Du Pisani told the court that one of the reasons why the trial could not proceed on Wednesday was because Detective Chief Inspector Nelius Becker, who took down a confession from Van Zyl, was not available to testify.He would be able to testify only in some two months’ time, the court was told.Van Zyl, who is being represented by Mel Harmse of Metcalfe Legal Practitioners, was remanded in custody until his case returns to court.