Cape Town - A self-confessed Satanist and convicted killer now wants the Holy Spirit to save him from jail.
Lawyer for Aljar Swartz wants a court to grant permission for an exorcism to be performed on his client to prove that it was the devil, and not him, who is responsible for the gruesome murder of Lee Adams.
And they want the demon extraction to take place before Swartz’s sentencing next month.
Swartz pleaded not guilty, but then admitted in court to beheading 15-year old Lee in October 2013, and that he was a Satanist at the time.
The teen’s headless body was found at a derelict school in Ravensmead and his head dug out at the accused’s home.
On Monday, Western Cape High Court Judge Elize Steyn found the 20-year-old guilty of murder, and of inciting three other youths to commit murder by trying to get them to lure people to their death.
Last week, the defence reopened their case in order to call Reverend Cecil Begbie, who they said would prove Swartz was possessed at the time of the killing.
This after the State argued that the accused’s motive for killing Lee was not for a Satanic ritual but rather for financial gain as he wanted to sell body parts to sangomas.
It is alleged that Swartz planned to sell Lee’s head to a sangoma for R5 000.
In an affidavit, Swartz said he became a Satanist when he was 14, and joined a group of 23 others in Parow.
Read: Dad wants life for man who beheaded son
He said after undergoing initiation, he was named Abaddon, meaning Angel of Death, and was later promoted to chief of demons under the name Baphometh.
Swartz claims to be tormented by demons while he is in prison.
“The demons are using my own voice to talk…at night [while] reading my Bible the demons manifest in full force in my head.
“This keeps me from sleeping… the demons still convey to me how I should kill other people.”
Swartz claimed had he been in his “right mind” in 2013, he would never have “done such a thing”.
“I was just a vessel and they used me to commit a crime,” he testified.
Judge Steyn dismissed the application, saying the reverend was relying on evidence from the convicted killer, who had proven to manipulate it at will.
She said Lee’s murder was premeditated, adding: “The accused is found guilty of all four counts.”
Reverend Begbie said they would go ahead with the exorcism at Pollsmoor Prison.
Lee’s aunt, Leticia van Schalkwyk, 44, says the exorcism is a ploy to get a lighter sentence.
“He is trying his luck, delaying the case hoping to get a lighter sentence for his crime, which is ridiculous,” she says.
“We want a life sentence, demon possessed or not.”
Daily Voice