Pretoria - A man convicted of murdering Pretoria mother Chanelle Henning broke down in the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday when he fingered her husband Nico for her murder.
“Nico Henning, her husband, commanded me to get her killed,” Andre Gouws said in Afrikaans as he started crying.
“The motive for the murder was to get full custody of [their child]...,” he said.
Wearing black tracksuit pants and a turquoise T-shirt, Gouws said he would testify against his best friend.
He said Nico Henning had feared that he would not get full custody of the child, and had previously asked for his help portraying his wife in a bad light.
The court heard that Henning had previously asked Gouws to kill his brother after they had a disagreement.
He said Henning offered him R1 million to order the hit on his wife.
Earlier, the court heard that Gouws, 49, decided to do what was right after looking at his daily Bible study book “What would Jesus do?”
On November 27, the trial took a new turn when Gouws offered to help with investigations into who else was involved with the murder.
Prosecutor Gerrie Nel disclosed this in court when sentencing proceedings were about to start, and he asked the court to remove Gouws to the Villieria police station so he could consult his attorney.
The court was scheduled to start hearing sentencing proceedings after finding Gouws and former Nigerian Olympic athlete Ambrose Monye guilty of the contract murder of Henning.
Henning, 26, was shot dead in Faerie Glen in November 2011, shortly after dropping off her child at a creche.
Gouws and Monye pleaded not guilty to five charges relating to an alleged conspiracy to commit the murder.
The State argued that Monye and Gouws conspired with former policeman Gerhardus “Doepie” du Plessis and Willem “Pike” Pieterse (alias Tattoo).
Du Plessis and Pieterse are serving 18-year prison terms after confessing to their roles in the murder.
In his testimony, Gouws admitted that Chanelle's husband asked him to watch her to see if she used drugs. The couple was divorcing and was fighting over custody of their child.
The case continues. - Sapa