Pretoria - The brains behind the contract killing of slain Faerie Glen mother, Chanelle Henning, may soon be exposed.
Just two days after Henning’s parents, Ivan and Sharon Saincic, said the identity of the person who ordered the killing of their daughter had not yet been revealed, a compelling development emerged on Wednesday.
One of the men found guilty of the murder of Henning, Andre Gouws, has offered to provide the State with information about “another person involved in the crime”.
The dramatic turn of events unfolded in the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday, moments before Judge Johan Kruger was expected to sentence Gouws and Ambrose Monye for the Mafia-style killing of Henning in November 2011.
She was gunned down by two men, who are currently each serving 18-year sentences for her murder, moments after dropping off her son at a créche.
Gouws and Monye were found guilty of the murder on Monday and were expected to be sentenced on Wednesday and join disgraced former cop Gerhardus du Plessis and Willem Pieterse in jail.
Du Plessis and Pieterse were sentenced in December 2011 after admitting guilt for their part of the murder and turning State witnesses.
Gouws, a close friend of Henning’s estranged husband Nico, has now decided to come clean.
Speculation is that he will spill the beans on a man whose name was mentioned numerous times throughout the two-year trial and whom the State maintained had a motive to kill the young mother. The State could, however, not present concrete evidence to back its claims against this person.
Before she was killed, Chanelle was involved in a bitter struggle with Nico over custody of their young son.
On Wednesday, State prosecutor Gerrie Nel told the court there had been a significant development in the case, much to the delight of the Saincic family.
“One of the accused has decided to assist the State in further investigations in this case. Can I also request that he (Gouws) be moved to the Villieria police station where the investigating officer is stationed so as to aid the process,” he asked the court.
Judge Kruger agreed and the matter was postponed to December 5.
According to the Saincic family, this was the “first good thing Gouws has ever done”.
“We are so relieved at this development. It is a bit late, but finally we are one step closer to the truth behind my daughter’s murder. We all know who did it; now the truth will finally come out,” Sharon said.
Although Nico was mentioned frequently, he was never called as a witness, nor did he attend any court proceedings.
In previous testimony, Gouws said that Nico had asked him to keep surveillance on his wife.
He maintained that the instruction was to observe her and ascertain if she was using drugs.
While on the stand Du Plessis testified that during a meeting with Gouws, a day before the initial murder was to happen, a voice on the other side of a call Gouws received said, “the bitch has the baby this weekend”. It was established that the voice belonged to Nico.
One of the court proceedings in July this year was disrupted after Monye “in a fit of rage” refused to come to court before seeing Nico.
At the time, his legal representative told the court that Monye was curious as to why Nico had not been to any of the proceedings.
“Monye felt that if a woman was killed, her husband should be in court. He wants to see Nico Henning eye to eye. I said to him it was not possible,” the lawyer said at the time. During judgment on Monday Judge Kruger said he would “refrain” from commenting on Nico’s involvement.
Pretoria News