Alleged wife killer Arnold Terblanche will spend his second Christmas behind bars as his bail application based on new facts was dismissed in court on Friday.
Delivering his judgment in the Gqeberha magistrate’s court, magistrate Kriban Pillay said Terblanche’s conduct during his ongoing court battle had been “mischievous”, and he had shown a propensity for interfering with witnesses.
Briefly detailing the allegations that Terblanche had conspired to have his co-accused Reinhardt Leach and Dylan Cullis killed, and how he had allegedly paid more than R500,000 to a man he thought would help him to get bail and influence judges hearing his bail appeal in the high court, Pillay found Terblanche could interfere with the state’s case against him.
According to Pillay, there was a “real likelihood” that Terblanche would attempt to evade his trial and might influence or interfere with state witnesses, including his girlfriend Krystal Wiggil and Vikcy's relative Leonie Jordan.
Terblanche, along with Leach and Cullis, have been charged with the murder in October 2021 of his estranged wife, Vicky, whose body was found buried in a shallow grave on a plot in Greenbushes.
They face charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and defeating the ends of justice. Leach has abandoned his application for bail while Cullis has entered a plea bargain with the state.
Terblanche is accused of plotting to have Vicky killed to avoid paying a sizeable divorce settlement, the hearing for which would have taken place the day after Vicky was murdered.
According to the state, Vicky was killed on or about October 18 last year after she was drugged with a schedule six opioid and then suffocated.
Terblanche was denied bail in January and lost his appeal to the high court to have Pillay’s decision set aside. In May, Terblanche brought a second bail application based on new facts which Pillay dismissed, finding there were no new facts.
After appealing to the high court, Terblanche claimed a small victory when the court ruled in his favour and ordered Pillay to hear the second bail application based on new facts.
On the same day, Terblanche was arrested and charged with one count of conspiracy to commit murder and six counts of conspiracy to defeat the ends of justice.
The state alleges Terblanche paid more than R550,000 and a car to Phindile Zweni to allegedly help him with his case which included interviewing Pillay, conspiring to influence which judges would hear his appeal, allowing him access to electronic devices while in custody and having his two co-accused and a state witness killed, among others.
He has not applied for bail in that matter.
In his recent bail application Terblanche claimed the investigating officer handling the case, Colonel Kanna Swanepoel, had misled the court and the state had made him believe it had a list of witnesses he could not contact.
Pillay found the statements obtained by Terblanche’s legal team from his ex-wife, his domestic worker and his brother, among others, were irrelevant and the merits of these would be determined by the trial court.
Pillay also found there was no factual evidence Swanepoel had misled the court.
In dismissing the latest bail application, Pillay found Terblanche had failed to prove that exceptional circumstances existed for him to be granted bail.
After judgment was handed down, defence attorney for Terblanche, Alwyn Griebenow, said they were “very disappointed” in the outcome and would take the matter on appeal to the Makhanda high court.
Terblanche is expected back in court on January 20.
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