Kimberley - The murders of a Griekwastad farmer, his wife and their daughter were planned to conceal the girl's rape, the Northern Cape High Court heard on Monday, Beeld reported.
The 17-year-old accused killed Deon and Christel Steenkamp and 14-year-old daughter Marthella Steenkamp because she had threatened to tell her parents that he raped her, State prosecutor Hannes Cloete said in closing arguments.
They were killed on their farm Naauwhoek, near Griquatown, on April 6, 2012. The boy was the only attacker and he waited until the family was together in their house, he said.
“Marthella's rape was the motive, or the reason, for the murders. They were planned. There was a resoluteness in the death blow and it was made certain that the victims died,” Cloete said.
The accused is charged with murdering the three, raping Marthella, and lying to police.
Sapa