I welcome jailtime: Lotter co-accused

Mathew Naidoo. Picture: Sandile Ndlovu

Mathew Naidoo. Picture: Sandile Ndlovu

Published Nov 8, 2011

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Double murder accused Mathew Naidoo told the Durban High Court on Tuesday he had no intention of coming out his trial a winner.

“And if I spend the rest of my life in jail after all that has happened to me, I welcome it,” he said.

Accused of being the mastermind behind the double murder of a Westville couple, he told Judge Shyam Gyanda that he had no intention of winning as he had told the truth too late.

Naidoo, 25, has denied killing Maria Magdalena “Riekie” Lotter, 52, and Johannes Petrus “Johnny”, 53, on July 19, 2008.

However, he has admitted covering up evidence afterwards and, as a result, his bail of R20,000 bail has been revoked.

Naidoo said he had “a severe argument” with his co-accused and former girlfriend Nicolette Lotter when they were taken from the court cells on Monday night to go to Westville prison.

Nicolette, 29, and her brother Hardus, 23 have denied murdering their parents, claiming they were under the influence of Naidoo, who told them he was the third Son of God and that God wanted their parents dead.

On Tuesday, Naidoo denied that he had been after the Lotters' money and that he would benefit from an inheritance as a result of his relationship with Nicolette, who he had planned to marry.

“When you saw the Lotters, you thought you had hit the Lotto,” Roland Parshotam, the lawyer acting for Hardus Lotter, put it to him.

Naidoo denied being the mastermind behind the plan to kill the Lotters, but did not deny trying to take responsibility for it when he found out about it.

He denied instructing Hardus to commit suicide after he had killed his father.

Gyanda said that if Hardus had committed suicide, he (Hardus) would have been blamed for both murders and that Nicolette would then be his (Naidoo's) wife and he would inherit.

“Yes,” Naidoo replied.

“And you would have control of the finances”, the judge said.

“I did not make this plan. I did not want the Lotters' money,” Naidoo said.

He asked why Hardus had not committed suicide, if the siblings believed he was the Son of God and had murdered their parents at his request.

“Maybe he was a coward,” the judge said.

“It's a possibility. Actually, killing your own parents is not the act of a coward it's an act of somebody who has no compassion,” Naidoo said.

Asked what the motive would be for the Lotter children to kill their parents, he said he did not know of one.

He denied saying that he was the third Son of God, but conceded that there were four instances in evidence before the court in which he claimed he was the Son of God.

He said there was a conspiracy by the Lotter siblings to implicate him so they could get away with the murder.

The judge pointed out that Naidoo had prophesied in the letter that Mr Lotter would be killed.

Asked how he had predicted his death, Naidoo said he had no comment to make.

Parshotam put it to him he that was “the mastermind of the murders and used the Lotter siblings as hired guns, so to speak.”

“No, My Lord.”

Cross-examined by Theunis Botha, for Nicolette, Naidoo denied stealing R6000 from Mr Lotter's bank account after getting his bank card and pin number.

He denied that he had then come across certain documents about Mr Lotter's financial affairs and trusts.

Naidoo agreed with State prosecutor Shiriza Ramouthar that “financially speaking” he came from the wrong side of the tracks.

Parshotam said: “As a result of this evil plan, two productive, professional people are dead, their children in prison, their lives and family destroyed, yet despite that you have shown no emotion, only at the end of cross examination you put on a small performance.”

“I had nothing to do with this matter. It hurts me that two people are dead. I have tried to hold myself together.” Naidoo responded.

Asked by the prosecutor what the attraction was between him and Nicolette he replied: “Have you seen her?”

She was hot, was everything he had ever dreamed of and was a catch, he said.

She was going to be his wife and he had adored and cherished her, Naidoo said. - Sapa

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