One of the men charged in connection with the murder of a Stellenbosch academic has objected to being tried with the two other men.
|||Cape Town - ONE of the men charged in connection with the murder of Stellenbosch academic Dr Louis Heyns, who has been accused of destroying Heyns’s Peugeot 308 at his Malmesbury business, has objected to being tried together with the two men accused of kidnapping and killing Heyns.
Juan Liedeman is however attempting to resolve the issue with the State, and “hopefully” reach a compromise, his attorney William Booth said yesterday.
Booth was addressing Cape Judge President John Hlophe in the Western Cape High Court during Liedeman’s pre-trail conference.
Liedeman, who has been charged with robbery as an accessory after the fact, and defeating the ends of justice, appeared together with his co-accused, brothers Marthinus and Sarel van der Walt, who have been charged with murder, kidnapping and robbery.
Heyns, an academic and Tygerberg paediatrician, was found buried in a shallow grave in Strand on May 30 last year, about a week after he went missing.
His vehicle, a Peugeot 308, was found at Liedeman’s business premises in Malmesbury. It had been cut up and the parts destroyed.
It is alleged that Liedeman tried to dismantle Heyns’s stolen vehicle – allegedly sold to him by the brothers – to destroy and conceal evidence.
In court yesterday, State advocate Samantha Raphels said the State and defence were involved in discussions in an attempt to shorten the trial.
The case was postponed to March 7 for another pre-trial conference.
Weekend Argus