Cape Town - A police expert measured the arms of the gunman who killed Swedish beauty Anni Hindocha a day before he died.
This emerged in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday when ballistics expert Pieter Engelbrecht took the stand in the trial of British businessman Shrien Dewani, who is accused of orchestrating the murder of his wife Anni while they were on honeymoon in Cape Town.
Engelbrecht told the court that Captain Kenneth Speed, who is a part of the investigating team, requested that he measure the arms of Xolile Mngeni in Goodwood Prison, where Mngeni was serving a term of life imprisonment of Anni's murder.
It is the State's case that Mngeni was in the front passenger seat when he shot Anni, who was seated in the middle of the back seat and who then fell to the right.
Engelbrecht confirmed in his findings that his examinations showed that the trajectory of the gunshot came from the front left side of the vehicle.
Mziwamadoda Qwabe, who testified that he had been driving the vehicle at the time Anni was killed, also testified that Mngeni had fired the shot from the front passenger seat.
But, earlier this month Dewani's advocate put it to Qwabe that the defence had measured Mngeni's arms before he was tried and that, on the basis of their measurements, the State's scenario was not possible.
After the defence's scenario was placed before the court, Speed requested that Mngeni's arms be measured, prompting Engelbrecht to go to Goodwood Prison to see Mngeni last Friday.
At the time, Mngeni, who had previously been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer with a low survival rate, was seriously ill.
His grandmother, Zanyiwe, said Mngeni took a turn for the worse in prison in the last week and that he was unable to eat or speak.
By the time Engelbrecht arrived at Goodwood on Friday, his condition was critical.
He died the next day.
IOL