Wounds in the bodies of the people a former Blue Bulls rugby player allegedly killed matched the axe found in his dog's kennel, the Durban High Court heard.
|||Durban - Wounds in the bodies of the people a former Blue Bulls rugby player allegedly killed matched the axe found in his dog's kennel, the Durban High Court heard on Wednesday.
Lt-Col Jason McGray said bloodied clothes and an axe were found at Phindile Joseph Ntshongwana's home in Durban's Yellowwood Park suburb.
McGray said police “sourced an axe that was similar to the one that was found in the kennel”.
When this axe was taken to the mortuary for the post mortems, it was compared to the wounds.
“This axe fitted in the wound patterns,” he said.
Ntshongwana, a former Blue Bulls flanker, has been charged with four murders. Three of his alleged victims was decapitated.
Ntshongwana is charged with murdering Thembelenkosini Cebekhulu in Montclair on March 20, 2011, Paulos Hlongwa in Lamontville on March 22, 2011, and Simon Ngidi on March 23, 2011.
On April 1, 2011 - the day he first appeared in court charged with the first three murders - a decomposing body was found near the railway line near Sandpiper Street in Yellowwood Park, 500m from his home.
McGray testified on Wednesday that when he arrived police officers had already cordoned off the crime scene. A man walking his dogs found the crime scene.
“The body was in a severe state of decomposition. The body was infested with maggots. There was skin slippage.”
He said it had been impossible to determine the cause of death because of the decomposition.
“The sex also could not be determined due to the bloating and the decomposition.”
He said a shoe's toe cap was found at the scene. A takkie found at Ntshongwana's home had a missing toe cap identical to the one found near the body.
McGray said prior to Ntshongwana's first appearance in court on April 1, 2011, he questioned the former rugby player at the Brighton Beach police station, in the presence of a number of high-ranking police officers and his lawyer.
During questioning he admitted having been in possession of a rented grey Opel Corsa Lite. He refused to say how the car had been damaged or why there was blood in it. He declined to answer when asked if he owned an axe or whether he was left- or right-handed.
McGray said when he asked Ntshongwana whether he could “ascertain right from wrong”, Ntshongwana replied: “No comment”.
On Monday crime scene expert Lt-Col Sietze Sibo Albertse testified blood was found in Ntshongwana's bathroom. It could only be seen once he had applied a chemical known as BlueStar.
On Wednesday, McGray said a police dog trained to find blood had alerted them to the potential presence of blood in the bathroom.
Ntshongwana has pleaded not guilty. - Sapa