Cape Town – The father accused of killing his twins has been sent to Pollsmoor Prison after his lawyer requested he be held at Victoria Hospital for a self-inflicted injury.
Mario Yela, 48, a Spanish national, appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday after his discharge from hospital.
CHARGED: Mario Caesar Deus Yela had attempted suicide
His lawyer, William Booth, requested he be hospitalised further.
But Magistrate Momina Ismail rejected Yela’s request and remanded him to Pollsmoor prison until his bail hearing on April 19.
Yela, who looked dishevelled and frail, dragged his feet as a result of being cuffed at the ankles.
State prosecutor Benito Adonis argued that Yela’s injuries were self-inflicted and superficial.
“The accused is a Spanish national who came to visit his children and his wife is a German national,” he said.
TRAGEDY: Yela's ex Julia Engelhorn's car was stolen after children were killed
“The accused sent his wife a message to join him for lunch before telling her that he killed their two children,” Adonis told the court.
Last week, the police said the deaths of three-year-old twins, a boy and a girl, were being investigated after their bodies were found by their mother at a holiday residence of their father in a complex in Princess Road, Hout Bay.