Stuttering and stumbling over his words, Ambrose Monye, one of five men implicated in the murder of Chanelle Henning, told the court one story after another on Tuesday.
State prosecutor Gerrie Nel grilled Monye during his application for bail.
Nel frequently responded to Monye’s testimony by saying: “That is not the truth, Mr Monye, is it?”
To prove to the court that Monye acted with co-accused Andre Gouws to arrange the murder of Henning, the court heard that Monye was the first person convicted killer Willem Pieterse called after Henning was killed on November 8, last year.
Monye’s difficulties started when he could not identify a house in a photograph which he claimed would be his address if he was released on bail.
Monye earlier described the house as a brick house with a fence and said he had been there several times.
When asked to identify one of the three structures in the photo he could not, and said his friend “had free access” to all three dwellings.
Monye further claimed his business Big Dog Security was a legal business.
But Nel presented the court with evidence that it was not registered with the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (Psira).
Gouws and Pieterse were arrested in November along with Gerhardus du Plessis on allegations of having been involved in the murder of Henning. She was an assistant teacher, who was shot as she drove away from a pre-school after dropping off her young son.
Nel argued that the State had a very strong case against Monye as he provided Gouws and Pieterse with “services” knowing they were going to commit a murder.
Monye testified that he and Gouws had some dealings with diamonds and gold. He had introduced Pieterse and Du Plessis to Gouws because Gouws had asked him if he knew of any “white” bouncers looking for work.
Nel presented the court with cellphone records of the days just before and just after the murder. Monye had called Pieterse at 3.24am on November 7 and again at 3.26am. Nel said it was the State’s submission that these were intended as wake-up calls for Pieterse.
In March, when Gouws was denied bail, the court was told that Pieterse tried to kill Henning on the day before her murder but failed as he could not find her house.
The court also heard that Pieterse had sent Monye six SMSes between 5.26am and 7.06am and CCTV footage placed Pieterse near Henning’s house the day before her murder.
Cellphone records further showed contact with Du Plesiss later that day. The State submitted that this was Monye’s attempt to persuade Du Plessis to continue with the hit as he had earlier decided to withdraw.
Nel told the court that the Hawks had met Monye on November 12.
Monye was told that they were looking for the “killers” of Henning and his name had come up.
Monye agreed that he had met Pieterse and Du Plessis.
But Monye said it was not to warn them but to find out what had happened.
Du Plessis and Pieterse are serving 18-year jail terms after pleading guilty to the murder in December last year.
The case will continue on Thursday.
Pretoria News