[miningmx.com] — AN INVESTIGATING officer will give evidence at the High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday in the trial of Brett Kebble murder accused, Glenn Agliotti.
Investigating officer Pieter van Heerden is expected to enter the witness box after the trial was postponed in August to allow Kebble’s father, Roger time to heal after a knee operation.
However, on Monday Kebble senior did not appear, nor did he have a knee operation – rather his doctor cited a heart condition as a reason for his absence.
Judge Frans Kgomo would not allow a further postponement of the matter and the State was ordered to proceed with its case.
Agliotti, a convicted drug dealer, is on trial for his role in Kebble’s “assisted suicide”.
Several witnesses have testified in the trial thus far, including the self-confessed hitmen in the Kebble killing – Nigel McGurk, boxer Mikey Schultz and Faizel “Kappie” Smith.
The trio testified that they twice bungled the killing – first when their car overheated and then when the gun jammed twice the following night, before the fatal shots.
Kebble’s former security boss, Clinton Nassif, endured days of intense cross-examination during the trial. He testified that he had agreed to “help Brett out” because the mining magnate was a “desperate man” who saw no other way out but to end his life.
Kebble’s butler Andrew Minnaar also testified.
His former friend, media liaison officer Dominique Ntsele, told the court Kebble was jovial and making plans for the future on the night of his death.
The court also heard that Kebble used “ghost phones” in the names of fictitious people. The phones were used by Kebble and his partner John Stratton.
Agliotti is facing four charges – two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, one count of attempted murder and one murder charge.
The murder charge and one conspiracy count relates to the September 2005 shooting of Kebble in Melrose, north of Johannesburg.
Agliotti is accused of conspiring to kill Alan Gray auditor Stephen Mildenhall, Jean Daniel Nortier, Dr Mark Bristow and Mark Wellesley Woods.
The attempted murder charge relates to the shooting of Mildenhall in Cape Town in August 2005.
The trial continues.
