Occult sacrifice link in teen’s murder

Published Sep 16, 2015

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Pretoria - Horrifying Mxit messages sent by a schoolmate about a killing ritual were read out during the inquest into the death of a 17-year-old Pretoria girl, who was murdered in 2010.

The message read: “Wl u gve me a ritual. I want 2 c a persne dead. do u have a ritual 2 kil.” This was an extract used as part of the evidence heard in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday. It was sent via Mxit by a reclusive schoolmate of the slain Anika Smit.

Five witnesses were due to be called on Tuesday to the stand at the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court.

However, only two testified.

The witnesses cannot be named as the State indicated that protecting their identities was important due to the sensitive nature of the inquest.

Anika was in Grade 11 at Hoërskool Gerrit Maritz when her father Johan returned from work to find her dead in their Theresa Park home. She was raped, stabbed numerous times, mutilated and both her hands were cut off. They are yet to be found.

The court heard that the same boy who sent the message also traded in and had a number of snakes, and a collection of swords.

There are 96 witnesses who might be called to the stand in an attempt to find the culprit behind the murder. It is not clear if Smit's murder was a result of an occult sacrifice, but this was suggested during inquest proceedings.

State prosecutor Tania Carstens asked the mother of the 18-year-old boy if she knew about the Mxit messages between her son, whose name was “Vampire”, and another unknown recipient known as “Satan Eyes”. The 18-year-old was also taken in for questioning by the police days after the murder.

“Satan Eyes” responded with a lengthy message which instructed “Vampire” to get a doll, which he should bury in a shoebox at a cemetery.

On Monday, court officials revisited the crime scene where the body of Smit was found in 2010.

Her mother, Charlotte Eksteen, 51, said that was the most harrowing experience of the inquest.

“It opened up old wounds because I thought I was coping and coming to terms with what had happened,” she said. Eksteen said she was hoping a suspect would be found at the end of the inquest.

The teenager had not gone to school that day because of an ear infection and Niko Venter, with whom she had just broken up, was arrested. After charges against him were withdrawn, the investigation into her murder came to a standstill when investigating officer Major Mike van Aardt was transferred to the Oscar Pistorius case.

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* Comments on this story have been closed to protect the identity of the witnesses.

Pretoria News

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