The evidence in a murder accused’s original statement, which explained how he stabbed a farmworker in his back and “cut his neck” at Rosetta, near Mooi River, in July 2010, can be used against him.
The statement, made soon after the murder, and then contested in the Pietermaritzburg High Court by the accused, Mzwandile Magubane, in a trial within a trial, could be used by the State, the court ruled yesterday.
Magubane is accused of murdering Lorraine Karg and her two employees, Hilda Linyane and Zakius Mhlongo.
In the statement, he said he came back to Rosetta from Eshowe that month to get money to obtain an ID document from Pretoria, as his previous employer had “chased” him away for not having any ID.
He and two others went to Sherwood farm. They had a remote-control unit for the gate. He went into an office to steal what was in the safe. While inside, one of his accomplices indicated someone was coming. When he got out of the office, his accomplice told him that he had “cut the umlungu (white person)” after she arrived in a vehicle.
“I saw the umlungu lying down dead,” said Magubane, adding that he was told there were two more people inside the vehicle.
Magubane then instructed Linyane and Mhlongo to get out of the vehicle, and the men took them into the kitchen and demanded that they lie on the floor.
The men then went back into the office and, when they came out, Mhlongo wanted to fight with them.
“I stabbed him in the back and cut his neck. I used the knife that was sharp,” he said. His accomplice later shot Linyane. The men then saw another vehicle approaching the house and alerted the third accomplice, who was outside, that they had to leave.
Magubane, who testified during the trial within a trial, declined to take the stand during the main trial.
At the close of the State and the defence cases, advocate Dheelan Naidoo said the evidence against Magubane was overwhelming. His blood had been found on a remote control belonging to the Kargs.
Judgment will be given on Wednesday.
