Medical experts who declared child murderer Theunis Olivier fit to stand trial should reappear in court to answer allegations that they did not follow proper procedures when examining the accused, the Cape High Court ruled on Thursday.
Judge Essa Moosa said Olivier’s insistence that psychiatrists and other professionals who examined him had not conducted all the necessary tests on him before reaching the conclusion that he was sane, was an issue the court could not ignore.
”Serious allegations have been made against these professional people and they should be given an opportunity to answer,” he said.
When cross-examined by state prosecutor Jan Theron, Olivier had, amongst other things, said that one of the psychiatrists who examined him had only seen him for 30 minutes.
”He did not conduct any test on me,” he said.
Asked how the psychiatrist and another doctor arrived at the conclusion that he was sane if they did not do the necessary tests on him, Olivier said the only reason could be that they hated him.
”Because of the nature of the crime for which I was arrested, they really did not want to help me, they saw me as this evil person,” he said.
Olivier was found guilty on Tuesday of the murder, kidnapping and indecent assault of Steven Siebert.
The boy had been on holiday in Plettenberg Bay when he went missing. His body was found hidden in bushes near the house where Olivier stayed.
Olivier told the court that his multi-personality conditions, which the psychiatrist and other medical professionals had failed to diagnose, were largely responsible for his crimes.
”I was not in control of myself when I killed Steven,” he said.
He particularly blamed Theo, whom he said was one of the personalities that had a lot of influence in his life, for the crimes.
Olivier, who said he had eight personalities, also told the court that his frequent changing of names demonstrated which personality was in charge of his life at a particular time.
However, Theron dismissed Olivier’s explanation, saying his changing of names had nothing to do with his alleged multi-personality condition, but a ploy to avoid arrest for child-molestation crimes he had committed in Zimbabwe and KwaZulu-Natal.
””You were trying to stop police from trailing you,” he said.
Besides Theunis, Olivier has called himself Chance, Chris, and other names.
The psychiatrist and other medical professionals who examined Olivier will testify on Monday. — Sapa