A Hillbrow police captain on Friday flatly denied that he had at any stage tortured or coached Andrew Jordaan to tell police where the body of seven-year-old Sheldean Human could be found.
Captain Ignatius van Aardt testified in a trial within a trial in the Pretoria High Court to determine the admissibility of a confession and pointing-out by Jordaan.
Jordaan (26), a newspaper distributor of Pretoria West, has pleaded not guilty to murdering, abducting and raping Sheldean, as well as to charges of raping and indecently assaulting another seven-year-old girl.
Van Aardt said he had met Jordaan for the first time after being asked by Director Piet Byleveld to conduct Jordaan’s pointing-out.
Up to that point he knew nothing about the investigation.
He denied Jordaan’s claims that he had tortured the accused at the Brixton police station before Byleveld interviewed Jordaan. Jordaan claimed he was tied to a chair, blindfolded, smothered with a rubber tube and had electrical shocks applied to his feet and private parts.
The accused also claimed Van Aardt had known in advance where Sheldean’s body would be found and had directed him to the place, where he was coerced into pointing out the scene.
Van Aardt said he did not know Pretoria well and had followed Jordaan’s instructions to the scene.
He said Jordaan was calm and had not only voluntarily pointed out various scenes, as a result of which Sheldean’s body was found, but also volunteered further information, which amounted to a confession.
Inspector Dirk van Blommenstein, who drove Van Aardt and Jordaan that day, testified that Jordaan was not influenced in any way and had given instructions to the isolated spot in the veld where the body was eventually found.
He said when a body was found, police usually immediately cordoned off the area to keep bystanders away and then called in photographers and investigators to search for clues.
In Jordaan’s case, there was no sign of any police activity on the scene and there were no other people visible in the area.
The trial continues. — Sapa