Johannesburg - Kirsty Theologo was aware that her friends wanted to sell their souls and wanted to sell hers too, the High Court in Johannesburg, sitting in Palm Ridge, heard on Thursday.
Linden Wagner, the alleged mastermind behind the soul-selling ritual, testified that Theologo was present when he and the other accused spoke about what they wanted to do.
“She wanted to be part of it and I said no because I cared about her,” he told the court.
“There were things she wanted in life and selling her soul would have taken it away from her.”
This was because she would have lost all emotion after selling her soul, Wagner said.
He had hoped to gain power from selling his soul. He told the court that, days before the ritual, Theologo offered herself to be burnt, her flesh to be eaten and her blood to be drunk.
His co-accused had believed she was the prostitute who needed to be sacrificed to resurrect the beast spoken of in the book of Revelations in the Bible. Theologo had denied that she was a prostitute.
“Kirsty came in with a big smile on her face and said she wanted to be burnt with fire and her flesh could be eaten,” said Wagner.
He told the court that Theologo had perhaps not believed them capable of doing so.
“I don't think she believed we were capable of doing that to her.... She trusted us,” said Wagner.
Theologo was assaulted and set alight in a ritual at the top of a hill in Linmeyer, Johannesburg, on Friday, October 21, 2011.
She died of her injuries in hospital the following Friday. Her 14-year-old friend survived the attack.
Wagner told the court he agreed to allow Courtney Daniels, the only female accused, to be part of the ritual.
He said this was because he had heard from his brother, who was dating Daniels at the time, that she knew of things from the dark side.
Wagner and three of his co-accused, Daniels, Harvey Isha, and Robin Harwood have pleaded not guilty to killing Theologo and the attempted murder of her friend.
The other accused, Lester Moody and Jeremy King, confessed to the crime and were each sentenced to 17 years' imprisonment, five of them suspended.
The trial continues.
Sapa