Pretoria - A policeman told the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday that he at first thought two little girls were sleeping until he saw the ligature marks around their necks.
Investigating officer Constable Raditshego Mashile testified in the trial of Evans Mpanyane, 33, of Mamelodi, who is accused of murdering his pregnant wife Connie and daughters Priscilla, six, and Joy, seven, near Kameeldrift, north of Pretoria, in December 2011.
Mpanyane has pleaded not guilty to the three murders, but gave no explanation of his plea.
The State alleges he strangled his wife and dumped her body in the veld before strangling his daughters.
Mashile testified he was called to the scene where the wife's body was found under a tree. She was wearing only her bra and panties, what appeared to be suicide notes had been tucked into her bra, and there was no sign of a struggle.
He was on his way to fetch witnesses who had found the body when he saw a blue car at the gate of one of the properties near the crime scene. The car's driver came walking in Mashile's direction. He said his name was Evans and he was looking for someone, but could not remember the persons' name.
There was blood on his shirt and his pants were dusty. Mpanyane's explanation was that he had been under his car earlier, trying to fix it.
Mashile said he became suspicious and called for back-up. When other policemen went to investigate, they found the bodies of the two children on the car's back seat.
“I saw the two children in the back. They looked like they were sleeping. The younger one was lying on the shoulder of the other one. I checked to see if they were responsive. They were not. They did not open their eyes and there were not breathing.
“They had injuries on their necks. It seemed as if the injuries were caused by a rope,” he said.
Police fingerprint expert Carolyn Makgalwa, who examined the “suicide notes” tucked into Connie's bra, testified that the writer had tried to imitate Connie's handwriting.
“The more you write and try to disguise your handwriting, the more you will go back to your own habits and thus your own style of handwriting,” she said.
Mpanyane wrote the notes, not his wife, she said.
The trial continues. - Sapa