A 40-year-old man who is charged with brutally beating his wife to death with a rock is expected to apply for bail in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Friday.
Less than a month before Marilyn Stebuys was brutally murdered allegedly by her husband, she obtained an interim protection order against him out of fear that he would kill her and their children.
Her alleged murder took place in June last year. Her husband, Dene, 40, is charged with her murder, two counts of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, assault and the contravention of a protection order.
The State alleges that he did not only beat his wife beyond recognition, but he also stabbed his own son, Denwin, 16, with a knife, when the teenager attempted to fuse a toxic situation.
This would not be the first time Dene brings an application before a court to release him on bail. He applied for bail twice before in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court, but on both occasions, bail was denied.
His bid for bail on Friday will be based on new facts.
In Marilyn’s affidavit made to obtain the protection order, she detailed an evening when she was asleep with her her children and got up to the sounds of loud hooting at her front door. With her young child in her arms, Marilyn said she got up and gave the house keys to her husband through a security gate.
“He started to shout and insulted me [and] asked why I took so long… I told him the children are sleeping he must stop shouting and making a noise. He shouted the oldest child’s name to open the garage door. I told him the children were sleeping and they have to be at school, but the children were already awake,” her affidavit read.
“He started beating me all over the face, my daughter took the child away from me. I then tried to run away and asked for help, he then grabbed me. I then shouted to the children to phone the police. He kept on beating me while my nose was bleeding, he noticed that I was not doing anything [so] he bit me on my cheek. My eldest son tried to stop him, he then grabbed a knife and stabbed him.”
The State alleges that on June 5, last year, Marilyn was walking with Jonathan Gabani near a sports complex in Humansdorp when Stebuys suddenly appeared and attacked Gabani.
According to the State when Marilyn refused to go with her husband he grabbed her and beat her using a rock.
Marilyn’s body was discovered deserted in bushes near the sports complex. She was allegedly beaten to such an extent that family members could not identify her bloodied face with her her eyes swollen shut.
– African News Agency (ANA)
