Cape Town - Toddler twins died within minutes of being stabbed multiple times, allegedly by their mother’s boyfriend. One had zero chance of survival.
This was according to the evidence of forensic pathologist Louise Mari Krüger, who testified in the Western Cape High Court on Thursday in the trial of Heinrich Siegels.
He stands accused of murdering two-year-olds Ranecia and Ranetha Neelse in Caledon almost two years ago.
Siegels has pleaded not guilty to all nine charges, saying he could not remember what had taken place after having fallen asleep the night before the incident.
Siegels had at the time been living with the girls and their mother, Reinette Neelse.
The State alleges that on the afternoon of December 14, 2012, Siegels threw Ranecia at her mother, who caught her.
Neelse took the child, but Siegels allegedly threw a glass at Neelse and stabbed her in the head. He is then alleged to have taken Ranecia out of her mother’s arms and stabbed her with a knife he had in his pocket. The State further alleges that he then also stabbed Ranetha.
In his plea explanation, submitted to the court when the trial began on Tuesday, Siegels said he thought he had used tik the day before the incident, as well as the previous day, but was not sure how much. He had not been able to sleep the night before the incident because he was “terrified” something would happen to him.
Siegels said two women - sisters of the man he was renting a house from - wanted to live in the house and that he believed they had been busy with “witchcraft” against him.
“Reinette also started speaking of snakes,” the document read.
Siegels further said that they went to sleep at Neelse’s brother’s house that night and that he did not remember anything after having fallen asleep. When he woke up, he was in a police cell.
In court on Thursday, Krüger testified that the injuries suffered by Ranecia would immediately have rendered her paralysed and she would have died within minutes. She had zero chance of survival.
Ranetha would have taken longer to die, but it would still have been a matter of minutes. It did not appear that their wounds were as a result of a frenzied or “unorganised” attack, Kruger testified.
The trial continues on Monday.
Cape Times