The Pretoria High Court yesterday heard that prominent city geologist Cobus Prinsloo and his former wife Cordelia, whom he is accused of having killed through a contract murder, previously each obtained family violence interdicts against each other.
Prinsloo, who is also known in music circles as he conducts Christian choirs, yesterday once again pleaded not guilty to having his former wife killed. He did not want to divulge his defence at this stage.
The Prinsloos were married for more than 25 years before they got divorced in 2004.
Cordelia, an attractive former air hostess and the mother to Prinsloo’s two sons, was killed on the morning of October 12, 2009, while she was watering her garden. At the time she was living in another house, not far from the main house on her husband’s plot, north of Pretoria.
She was hit three times over the head with a garden spade. The gardener Lucas Moloi this week pleaded guilty to the murder, saying that Prinsloo, his employer, promised him R50 000 and a house if he killed Cordelia.
Moloi, who was sentenced to 18 years in jail, said he saw his chance to murder the woman when she asked him to fetch a garden spade. He then smashed her skull in, although he “actually liked her and they were on friendly terms”.
The gardener said he did it purely for the sake of money, although he never received anything. He said he was “more than willing” to testify against his former employer, who is at present standing trial for his part in the murder.
Cordelia’s body was found a day after her killing, where it was dumped in a flower bed on the plot.
The body was discovered by Prinsloo.
Judge Moses Mavundla and the State and defence earlier this week went on an inspection in loco to the smallholding where the woman was murdered and buried. In reading out what they saw and the distances between the various points, it came to light that Cordelia’s body was found nine metres from the window of the bathroom of the main bedroom of the house in which Prinsloo stayed at the time.
“The bathroom in the main bedroom faced the place where she was buried,” the judge said as he read out a record of the inspection.
Prinsloo yesterday admitted that in terms of their divorce settlement agreement, Cordelia was entitled to four hectares of his smallholding, which had to be subdivided – and that his wife was entitled to be compensated for the four hectares if the smallholding was not subdivided within three years.
This time had lapsed by the time she was killed, but the plot had not yet been subdivided.
Prinsloo also admitted that both of them had obtained family violence interdicts against each other. She first obtained this order and thereafter he sought a similar order.
It is also claimed that Prinsloo had, prior to her death, stolen his wife’s firearm – a .38 Special Revolver.
Prinsloo’s trial will resume on Monday, when it is expected that Moloi will take the stand against his former employer. - Pretoria News Weekend