Johannesburg - The case against four people accused of killing teenager Kirsty Theologo in an alleged satanic ritual was postponed by the High Court sitting in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on Friday.
Judge Geraldine Borchers postponed the matter until Monday, when one of the accused, Harvey Isha, would testify.
Kirsty Theologo, 18, and her friend, who was 14-years-old at the time, were tied up, doused with petrol, and set alight on a hill in Linmeyer, south of Johannesburg, on October 21, 2011.
Theologo died in hospital, but her friend survived.
Jeremy King and Lester Moody admitted to the crime and were both sentenced to 17 years in jail, five of which were suspended.
The other four accused - Isha, Robin Harwood, Lindon Wagner, and Courtney Daniels - have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder, and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
On Friday, Lydia van Niekerk, for Wagner, cross-examined State witness King about the killing. The court heard that Wagner admitted hitting Theologo with a rock on the hill where the ritual took place.
Van Niekerk asked King whether he saw Theologo regain consciousness and speak coherently after being hit. He said he had, but that Wagner hit her “very badly”, as the wound bled.
King said he believed Wagner then panicked, and that this led to Wagner pouring petrol over the girls and setting them alight.
“You went there to eat flesh and drink blood. Why didn't you stay 1/8to eat Theologo's flesh 3/8?” Borchers asked.
King said he ran away, leaving Theologo and her friend, because everyone else had also run away.
Van Niekerk asked: “Was it because you were not really serious about eating flesh?”
“No,” King replied.
Earlier, the court heard that a youth present when the teenagers were set alight was not warned that he would witness a killing. King said the youth was told only King and his friends would perform a “soul-selling” ritual.
“Killing Kirsty was a very unusual thing, but you didn't think to tell (the youth)?” Van Niekerk asked.
King agreed. Borchers asked whether they had considered the implications of taking a witness with them to the hill.
“He wasn't party to the killing. He would be a witness and run away and tell the police,” she said.
King said he had told the youth about only the ritual they planned to perform, not the killing.
“What about getting caught?” Borchers asked.
“I have no comment on that,” King replied.
King said his role was to eat Theologo's flesh.
Borchers said: “You were going to eat her flesh. That's not the same as killing her.”
“What if you had to do something absolutely abhorrent?”
King said he could not remember whether he considered this at the time. - Sapa