Two of Bad Brad’s co-accused would have slept easy on Thursday night after the State admitted that there was no case against them.
But closing arguments on Thursday left those at the Delmas High Court believing that it might be Bradford “Bad Brad” Wood standing alone in the firing line at Friday morning’s judgment.
Wood, Nico Pretorius, Herbie Trouw, Willem Coetzer and Mickey Mazelem are facing four charges of murder and four of attempted murder after four illegal miners were shot dead at the Aurora Mine in Benoni last year.
The trial began last week, with the State attempting to argue that the team had gathered for a manhunt to clear the mine as part of a security operation, saying there had even been an attempt to cover up the deaths of four illegal miners.
As the State began its argument, it was mentioned early on that there was no reason to believe that Trouw and Coetzer, both members of mine management, had planned or even that they took part in the alleged manhunt, which turned into a shootout.
Judge Andre Louw told the pair’s legal representative, Kobus Malan, that no closing arguments were necessary on their behalf. Despite two of the accused seemingly escaping the charges, the State and defence’s battle continued over Wood.
Wood gave testimony earlier this week, explaining that he had been the only member of the group to use a firearm in the Ndlovu mineshaft that day.
The sound of a gunshot had caused him to “instinctively fire” into the dark, he said.
State advocate Anthony Mosing continued to paint Wood as a cold-blooded killer who had gathered the group as part of a manhunt, with a clear intention to kill those “who did not necessarily wish to kill him”.
Mosing said Wood and fellow security guards Mazelem and Pretorius had entered the mine with a different, more violent purpose to assess damage to the mine’s equipment as claimed by mine management.
However, as neither Mazelem nor Pretorius had been in the same section of the shaft at the time of the shooting, Mosing focused on Wood’s firing into the dark. “I submit that (Wood’s) actions were excessive… this exceeded the bounds of self-defence,” he said.
Christo Meiring, defence advocate for Wood and Pretorius, argued that any man in the same situation would have fired, as reports of the miners’ violent hostility and use of explosive booby-traps in the mine had made them an immediate threat.
Meiring said his client had a responsibility to protect the group and had not fired with a purpose to kill, and had thus not gone beyond simple self-defence.
“Should he have waited for the next shot to be fired?” Meiring asked. Mosing responded that someone with Wood’s level of training should have been more cautious about firing, and said it was not acceptable for someone in his position to shoot and kill in those circumstances.
Louw was expected to hand down his verdict on Friday morning. -The Star