Lotter daughter not sexually abused: lawyer

Nicolette Lotter. Photo: Doctor Ngcobo

Nicolette Lotter. Photo: Doctor Ngcobo

Published Nov 8, 2011

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Nicolette Lotter, accused of murdering her parents, had never been sexually abused by her father as claimed by her former boyfriend, the Durban High Court heard on Tuesday.

“She will deny that,” her lawyer Theuns Botha said.

He was addressing Nicolette's former boyfriend Mathew Naidoo, who is also her co-accused.

Botha said Nicolette would testify that Naidoo told her he had a revelation from God that she was sexually abused by her father -

and that God had erased this from her memory. Naidoo, 25, denied this.

Nicolette, 29, was expected to give evidence on Wednesday.

She is accused of murdering her parents Maria Magdalena “Riekie” Lotter, 52, and Johannes Petrus “Johnnie” Lotter, 53, in their Durban, Westville home on July 19, 2008, along with her brother Hardus and Naidoo.

The siblings claim Naidoo was the mastermind behind the murder plot, telling them it was God's will that their parents die.

They said the plan was to knock their parents unconscious with a taser gun, which delivers an electric shock. Then Naidoo would inject air into their veins to cause a heart attack, so it looked like they had died from natural causes.

When the taser did not work properly, they said, Naidoo told Nicolette to stab her mother and Hardus to strangle his father.

Botha said Nicolette would testify that threatening text messages sent to Mr Lotter had been sent by Naidoo, who had shown them to her on his cellphone.

“She was present when you bought sim cards to send (the messages) to her father,” Botha said.

“That is incorrect,” Naidoo said.

And far from getting on with Nicolette's parents, as Naidoo had claimed, she would tell the court that “her father disliked you and did not trust you at all”.

While Naidoo had initially made a good impression on Mrs Lotter, Nicolette would say “the relationship deteriorated progressively,” Botha said. She would testify that Naidoo told her to kill her mother.

“No,” Naidoo responded.

And afterwards, “you told her to change her trousers because they were bloodstained and also instructed her to collect cable ties, the taser and other items in bags”.

“Not correct,” Naidoo said.

Naidoo denied withdrawing R6000 from Mr Lotter's bank account, after the siblings helped Naidoo find his card and pin number.

“No, that is not correct,” Naidoo said.

“You convinced them it was the right thing as it would humble their parents,” Botha said.

“No,” Naidoo replied.

Botha said Nicolette told Naidoo she would give part of her inheritance to him because she thought of it as “giving it to the third son of God, which she believed you were”.

Naidoo denied this. He denied ever assaulting the siblings and punching, slapping and verbally abusing Nicolette. He used to smack her on the bottom a lot.

Added Naidoo: “She was my girlfriend.”

Roland Parsotham, for Hardus Lotter, reminded Naidoo that the brother had said in the witness box Naidoo had physically assaulted him and tried to strangle Nicolette, and that this evidence had never been challenged.

“Yes, you were right,” Naidoo said, going on to disagree that there had been violence in his relationship with the siblings.

He said the siblings were falsely implicating him in the murders and he wished he knew why.

The trial continues on Wednesday. - Sapa

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