TWO teenage boys accused of murdering 78-year-old librarian Johanna Blignault of Plettenberg Bay last month appeared briefly in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
The boys, aged 16 and 17, may not be named. By order of magistrate Len Goosen, their parents and guardians may not be named, nor may the location where they are being detained.
Public defender Kirsten Deacon withdrew from the case due to a conflict of interest.
She said indications were that the case would go the High Court and the boys had been referred to Legal Aid.
Southern Cape police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie said police were still awaiting DNA test results.
“If the pending DNA results indicate … sexual intercourse, a charge of rape will be added to the charge of murder.”
He said the boys had both been found guilty of housebreaking charges pending against them when they were arrested for Blignault’s killing. One boy was sentenced on Monday to 18 months in jail, suspended for four years, after being found guilty on one charge.
“The other boy was found guilty on three charges of housebreaking yesterday and the case was postponed for a report from the social worker.”
The boys, from the adjoining Green Valley township, were arrested after Blignault was found stabbed in the chest outside her back door at her home in Wittedrift.
When the boys first appeared last month, a crowd of angry Wittedrift and Green Valley residents demanded that they not receive bail. The boys, in court to apply for bail, withdrew their bid.
Source: The Weekend Post
30/10/09
Crime