THE estranged husband of slain Vicki Terblanche was arrested by Mount Road detectives at his Mill Park, Gqeberha, home and charged with her murder.
Eastern Cape provincial police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said he was arrested at about 8.15pm on Wednesday night. The 53-year-old suspect was arrested at his home and was expected to appear in court soon.
This comes as the two men already charged with Terblanche’s murder appeared for their bail hearing in the Gqeberha Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
However, the development of a further arrest saw the bail application postponed until Terblanche’s estranged husband joined his co-accused in the dock.
According to Algoa FM News, Terblanche and her estranged husband were in the process of getting a divorce and had been separated for several months prior to her murder.
The media outlet also reported the 53 year old is a former director of an engineering company in Gqeberha.
The 42-year-old woman’s boyfriend, former teacher Reinhardt Leach, 32, and Dylan Cullis, 24, were arrested on October 23.
Two days after Leach reported his girlfriend missing, her body was found in a shallow grave in an open field in Greenbushes on the outskirts of Gqeberha.
IOL previously reported that the arrests came after officers had been alerted – a day after Leach reported Terblanche missing – about alleged suspicious activity at a 1st Avenue, Mill Park complex.
On arrival, officers found doors and a garage door standing open at about 10pm.
While investigating at the house, a man arrived, who detectives soon realised was Terblanche’s boyfriend, who had reported her missing.
“The male (Leach) was then taken to the police station for questioning. A further probe led police to a house in Burt Street, Newton Park, where a 24-year-old male (Cullis) was also questioned.
’’At about 3am after an intense investigation, detectives, with the assistance of the K9 Search and Rescue Unit, found the body of the missing woman, Vicki Terblanche, buried in a shallow grave in an open field in Greenbushes,” Naidu said earlier.
The three accused are expected back in court on Friday, November 19.