Johannesburg - A youth present when a teenager was set alight in an apparent satanic ritual was not warned he would witness a killing, a State witness said on Friday.
Jeremy King, 20, told the High Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court the youth was only told King and his friends would perform a “soul-selling” ritual.
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.
King and Lester Moody confessed to the crime and were both sentenced to 17 years in jail, five of which were suspended.
The other four accused - Harvey Isha, Robin Harwood, Lindon Wagner, and Courtney Daniels - have pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder, and assault to cause grievous bodily harm.
On Friday, Lydia van Niekerk, for Wagner, asked King: “Killing Kirsty was a very unusual thing. But you didn't think to tell [the youth]”
King agreed. Judge Geraldine 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,” Borchers said.
King said he had only told the youth about 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.
The trial continues.
Sapa