Woman’s gruesome murder described
An alleged murderer told a court how he and his co-accused went for a joyride after killing a woman and burning her body.
|||Johannesburg - An alleged murderer has told a court how he and his two co-accused went to buy KFC and drugs, then went gambling, after killing a woman and burning her body in her car.
As Nthabiseng Selesho’s body burnt in the veld in Lenasia until only charred bones remained, Candice Prevost, Wayne Williams and Ashley de Villiers were trying to sell the jewellery they had just stolen from her and making a few purchases along the way.
This was Williams’s testimony on Wednesday at the high court sitting in Palm Ridge.
The three accused are on trial for the murder and robbery of Selesho. They all pleaded not guilty to murder, while Williams pleaded guilty only to robbery.
Williams is Prevost’s former fiancé. De Villiers is Prevost’s current fiancé and the three were living together in Boksburg when the crime was committed on September 4 last year.
Williams testified they used drugs and were in financial difficulties when Prevost came with the idea that Selesho should be robbed. Selesho was a jewellery saleswoman and Prevost had been a client for two years.
Williams said that a few days before Selesho was killed, the plan was to hijack her and take the jewellery. They were going to use De Villiers’s ex-wife’s car and remove the registration numbers. They would wear balaclavas, accost her at a traffic light then use a pellet gun to hijack her.
That plan, however, failed and Prevost managed to lure Selesho to their home.
“I put my arm around her neck and she fell to the ground. I was struggling with her and Ashley helped me. We carried her and put her in the backseat of the Peugeot (Selesho’s vehicle). She pushed me with her feet and I was pinned behind the driver’s seat. Ashley came and jumped on top of her chest with his hands around her neck.”
Williams said that after a while he realised Selesho was dead, and he covered her body with a jacket that was on the seat.
After driving with the body for some time, Williams said De Villiers gave him petrol.
“He said I should burn the car. He said our fingerprints were on it. I poured petrol inside the car and set it alight (with Selesho’s body inside),” he said.
Williams said he also caught fire while burning the car.
Towards the end of the testimony, Williams was tearful and his lawyer asked him if he was okay – much to the annoyance of Selesho’s family, who mumbled in disapproval.
Williams also told the court he battled to sleep after the crime because he kept seeing Selesho’s face. The trial continues.
botho.molosankwe@inl.co.za
The Star
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