Cape Town -
After a seven-month wait, the teen accused of murdering his girlfriend’s mother is likely to be admitted to Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital for mental observation within a month, according to his lawyer William da Grass.
He said that there were just over 30 people ahead of his client, Kyle Maspero, in the queue waiting for mental observation.
This means that Maspero could be undergoing observation by the time he next appears in court on March 5.
“It’s just a question of clearing the others, then he will be in,” Da Grass added.
He was speaking to Weekend Argus on Thursday, after Maspero made a brief appearance before Cape Judge President John Hlophe.
The teen was referred for mental observation in June after the State rejected his version of events when he attempted to plead guilty.
At the time, Da Grass told the court that Maspero was unable to recall aspects of the offence because of his protracted use of drugs.
The forensic team at Valkenberg will now have to determine his mental state at the time the murder took place.
Maspero is accused of murdering Rosemary Theron, the mother of his girlfriend Phoenix Racing Cloud Theron.
Theron is serving an effective 15 years in jail after she entered into a plea bargain with the State, in which she implicated Maspero.
She blamed her mother for neglecting her and said she had learnt to steal food because she was hungry, was often taken out of school because her mother could not afford it, and had to take care of her sister.
According to Theron, she and Maspero came up with the plan to murder her mother, a performance artist, after an argument.
Theron pretended to apologise for the fight, and embraced her mother, while Maspero allegedly sneaked up behind her and strangled her with a rope.
She alleged that Maspero buried the body near their Fish Hoek home, and that, with the help of Godfrey Scheepers, he later moved it to Strandfontein.
Charges against Scheepers were provisionally withdrawn pending Maspero’s assessment.
If a forensic panel finds that Maspero should be tried, Scheepers will be rejoined as a co-accused and a trial date will be set.
Saturday Argus