Najwa Petersen herself fired the shot that killed her famous musician husband Taliep Petersen, the Cape High Court heard on Wednesday.
”You are the person who then grabbed the gun from [co-accused Waheed] Hassan and pulled the trigger. After you had pulled the trigger Hassan took the gun, dropped the cushion and left your home,” said advocate Patrick Scott, representing Hassan.
Petersen said this was not true.
This emerged when Petersen, who with three co-accused is charged with the murder, was cross-examined by two members of the defence team representing two of her three co-accused.
Scott told Petersen that she was in fact present during the shooting of her husband, and not locked in a bedroom as she claimed to have been, according to Hassan.
Petersen replied: ”I was not present at the shooting.”
Scott told her: ”My instructions are that you and Hassan were alone with the deceased before the shooting, and that co-accused Jefferson Snyders, who had also been there, had left the Petersen house for home.”
She said this was not true.
Scott continued : ”At that stage Hassan held the gun in a cushion but said he was not prepared to go any further, that you insisted that your husband be shot dead.”
Najwa Petersen again denied this version of the events. She was also questioned by advocate Roelf Constable, for Snyders.
According to Snyders, he had said to Hassan in the Petersen home that he wanted nothing to do with the murder and had tried to persuade Hassan to leave Taliep alone.
Snyders had said to Hassan: ”You can see that the people [Taliep and Najwa] have problems with each other.”
Petersen said she had not heard this as she had not been present.
Constable continued: ”When Snyders got to the car outside he heard what sounded like a shot being fired.”
Petersen replied: ”I deny that I was involved at all, I was upstairs locked in a bedroom.”
The case continues. – Sapa