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/ 22 February 2005
Lion murder accused Simon Mathebula (43) told the Phalaborwa Circuit Court on Tuesday that he knew it was wrong to hold a man against his will. He said he was just carrying out orders when he helped tie up Nelson Chisale with an electrical extension cord.
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/ 21 February 2005
Nelson Chisale closed his eyes and prayed before being thrown to lions, the Phalaborwa Circuit Court heard on Monday. The defence opened its case on Monday with the evidence of one of his alleged killers, Simon Mathebula (43). Simon said he watched his employer, Mark Scott-Crossley, walk up to Chisale and kick him.
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/ 8 February 2005
A Democratic Alliance fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe will not ”go as far as the airport”, African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Fikile Mbalula told students at the University of the Witwatersrand on Tuesday. For its own part, the ANCYL opposes a change of government in Zimbabwe, as it is not a ”regime”, said Mbalula.
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/ 4 February 2005
Still feeling too sick to go on with his trial, lion murder accused Richard ”Doctor” Mathebula (41) on Friday asked the Phalaborwa Circuit Court for time to recover from the chest pains that have plagued him this week. ”This morning, I tried to consult with my client. He was not in a position to give me proper instructions,” said Mathebula’s counsel, Mathews Kekana.
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/ 3 February 2005
Defence counsel for three men accused of feeding a man to lions in Hoedspruit last year had to delay presenting their case on Thursday after one of the accused fell ill. ”Accused number one tells me he’s suffering from chest and throat pains,” Mathews Kekana, counsel for Richard ”Doctor” Mathebula, said outside the Phalaborwa Circuit Court.
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/ 1 February 2005
A pathologist could not tell from Nelson Chisale’s broken bones whether he was dead or alive when thrown into a lions’ den in January 2004, the Phalaborwa Circuit Court heard on Tuesday. ”There was no flesh on the bones at all,” Dr Donald Mabunda told the court.
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/ 31 January 2005
A police officer had to cut the skin off a finger found in a lions’ den in Hoedspruit in order to get a fingerprint, the Phalaborwa Circuit Court heard on Monday. The court is trying three men accused of murdering Nelson Chisale by feeding him to lions in January 2004.
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/ 28 January 2005
She identified her uncle from the gaps between the teeth of a skull she was shown in Phalaborwa mortuary, Fetsang Jafta told the Phalaborwa Circuit Court on Friday. Jafta was testifying in the trial of three men accused of killing her uncle, Nelson Chisale, by feeding him to lions on January 31 last year.
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/ 27 January 2005
A doctor was called to examine lion murder accused Mark Scott-Crossley on Thursday, after he was put into the cells at Phalaborwa Circuit Court when his bail was cancelled over an altercation with a witness. Scott-Crossley covered his face with his hands and wept at being incarcerated at the start of the lunch adjournment after the bail ruling.
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/ 26 January 2005
Mark Scott-Crossley’s R250 000 bail could be revoked for allegedly grabbing a witness’s T-shirt and muttering to him at the close of proceedings on the second day of his trial for allegedly feeding former employee Nelson Chisale (41) to lions in January last year.