GEORGE NEWS - The application for discharge that was submitted during the murder trial of five men accused of the 2018 murder of Heila Kilian (63) in Still Bay, was denied by Judge Lister Nuku in the Circuit High Court in George this morning, Thursday 23 September.
The legal representative of accused number five, Xolusani Myoyi, brought an application of discharge on behalf of his client yesterday, saying there was not enough evidence to keep Myoyi in custody.
The state opposed the application saying that Myoyi could well be the one who fired the shot that killed Kilian.
Judge Lister Nuku postponed proceedings to this morning, when he denied the discharge.
The court case against the five men accused of the murder that took place on the farm Gazania, just outside Stilbaai, continued today with the first accused, Sakhumzi Benya (31), commencing his testimony.
During his time in the dock this morning, Benya told the court that he had no knowledge of the crime and that he wasn’t even in the Riversdale area at the time, but in Cape Town. He vehemently denied having anything to do with the attack on Kilian’s family, or her murder.
He also told the court that he has only seen two of his co-accused before, and did not know the other two at all.
However, Senior State Advocate, Advocate Christhénus van der Vijver, put it to Benya that he [Benya] knows his co-accused very well and that they meticulously planned the murder. Van der Vijver said Kilian was shot and killed to instil fear into the other victims and that the reason why the others, who were residents of the home, were kept alive was to show the attackers where the money was.
The five men, Nkoshihethu Nocuza, Msomi Nikani, Monwabisi Maki and Myoyi, are accused of murdering Kilian during a visit to the farm Gazania in April 2018 while she was braaiing with her sister Brenda and brother-in-law David Thomas.
One of the suspects who was carrying a firearm shot Kilian.
The accused, who were arrested in Cape Town shortly after the murder on Kilian, face charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, the unlawful possession of a firearm and the unlawful possession of ammunition. They have all pleaded not guilty on all charges against them.
They allegedly ransacked the house and fled in a white Toyota Hilux bakkie that belonged to the Thomases, taking an undisclosed amount of cash and firearms.
Kilian was shot through the heart. Her family members were tied up and beaten during an ordeal that lasted for up to two hours.
The trial continues and is on the court roll until 1 October.
'We bring you the latest Garden Route news'
