Cape Town -
A 32-year-old man who is on trial for the murder of a pair of toddler twins has testified that he had no reason to harm the “loving” children.
He has maintained, however, that he cannot remember the day of the incident.
Heinrich Siegels stands accused of murdering two-year-olds Ranecia and Ranetha Neelse – who were stabbed multiple times – in Caledon almost two years ago.
He is on trial in the Western Cape High Court after having pleaded not guilty to the nine charges against him, including murder, assault and attempted murder.
Siegels took the witness stand in his own defence on Wednesday, saying he had a good relationship with the children.
There also hadn’t been any problems in his relationship with his girlfriend, the mother of the slain twins, with whom he had lived at the time.
He further said he thought he used drugs the day before the incident, as well as the day before that.
When asked whether he could remember anything about the day of the incident, however, Siegels answered that he could not.
He could also not say why he could not remember.
Siegels said he remembered waking up in the police cells, but could not remember which day it had been.
He testified that he would never have harmed the children.
“They were loving children. I didn’t have any reason to hurt them,” Siegels said.
Earlier in the proceedings, the court heard cross-examination about a test that had been performed on Siegels concerning his mental state.
Senior forensic psychiatrist Professor Sean Kaliski, who was called by the State, said that Siegels’s memory was intact. He had scored full marks in the section testing the patient’s memory.
But Siegels’s lawyer contended that the document was “flawed”.
While the examiner had marked the test 27 out of 30, when it was all counted up, it appeared that the test was actually out of 28, and that Siegels had scored 23.
The trial continues on Thursday.
Cape Times