Chilling details on how Pretoria teenager Samantha Uys possibly met her death emerged on Wednesday in the trial of her two alleged killers.
Pretoria High Court Judge Tholi Vilakazi ruled that a pointing-out statement by Ricky Godfrey (19) of Meyerspark — one of the accused — was admissible as evidence against him.
Godfrey claimed members of the police had assaulted and forced him to make the pointing-out, but several police officers testified that he had freely cooperated with police and that his grandmother was present when he made the pointing-out.
Godfrey and his 19-year-old friend, Kabelo Tebogo (KT) Mokwena of Silverton, both denied that they had in November 2005 murdered Uys, who was one of their friends. They also denied that they had violently robbed Uys of her mother’s car that night.
Captain Petrus van der Walt, who was in charge of Godfrey’s pointing-out, testified that the accused had directed him to a large tree next to a foot bridge in Silverton, where he said everything had started.
He told the police officer that KT had arrived at his home early that evening, asking to borrow his knife and schoolbag. KT said he had arranged with Samantha to take them to a bar and when they came back, he wanted to go and steal something from a gymnasium. He told Godfrey they needed R100 for petrol and Godfrey took the money out of his grandmother’s purse.
Later that night, they went to Samantha’s house, where they first pushed the car into the street after she had locked her twin sister and her sister’s boyfriend in the house, and then drove to the foot bridge.
Godfrey said he and KT had smoked dagga and then KT called Samantha. They were standing there when KT came from behind, grabbed Samantha by the neck and strangled her. He dragged her to the tree and then he stabbed her three times in the throat with a knife before throwing her to the ground.
According to Godfrey, KT then dragged Samantha to the car by tying her pants around her neck and using them to drag her.
Godfrey also took police to another scene near a quarry in Mamelodi where Uys’s body was discovered nine days later. He told police KT had dragged the girl’s body out of the car, picked up a large rock and threw it on to her before both of them left the scene. They later drove to Mamelodi, where they sold the car.
Van der Walt said Godfrey must have smoked almost a whole pack of cigarettes during the pointing-out, but did not show any further emotion.
Evidence started on Wednesday in a trial-within-a-trial to determine the admissibility of a pointing-out statement by Mokwena, who claimed he was coerced into making the statement.
The trial continues. — Sapa