Beetge bail appeal dismissed

Yvonne Beetge, leaving the Pretoria High court with her advocate, Karin Alheit and a family member. File picture: Thobile Mathonsi

Yvonne Beetge, leaving the Pretoria High court with her advocate, Karin Alheit and a family member. File picture: Thobile Mathonsi

Published Feb 12, 2013

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Bloemfontein - An appeal against a bail ruling involving a woman convicted of killing her fiancé was dismissed in the Supreme Court of Appeal this week.

Yvonne Beetge, 45, was found guilty last year of shooting Jacobus Christiaan Grundlingh, 53, in his Polokwane home in Limpopo in November 2008.

She was sentenced to 15 years in jail. Beetge pleaded not guilty in the High Court in Pretoria, but was convicted as charged.

At the time, Beetge claimed Grundlingh had committed suicide. He was found with three gunshot wounds to the head, one of them behind his left ear.

During Beetge's trial, expert witnesses testified it would have been impossible for Grundlingh, who was right-handed, to shoot himself behind the left ear without using his left hand.

High Court Judge Mahomed Ismail refused to grant Beetge bail pending the outcome of an appeal, which she took to the Supreme Court of Appeal.

On Tuesday, Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Mandisa Maya held that on evidence before the court very little was known about Beetge.

She found there was no guarantee that even stringent bail conditions would provide an adequate safeguard against the risk of flight in the circumstances.

Beetge’s appeal was dismissed. - Sapa

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