Algoa FM News
The trial against a former primary school teacher accused of killing his girlfriend Vicki Terblanche took the stand on Tuesday to testify in his own defence.
A nervous and soft-spoken Reinhardt Leach told the court that he taught at several schools in Gqeberha while studying and eventually obtained his Bachelor's in Education from Unisa.
He told the court how he started experimenting with dagga in Grade 12. Still, he only later started experimenting with cocaine at the age of 26 when his days at school were becoming too long to manage his after-school sports activities and then having to go home to mark papers.
He said when he would run out of money he would get CAT which is a cheaper version of cocaine. He shared with the court how he lost his salary one month due to gambling, which made him depressed and suicidal.
The family doctor booked him in at Huntersgraig in 2018, where he was diagnosed with severe depression and Bipolar.
As soon as he was discharged from the hospital, Bonzai School in Sydenham welcomed him back before he got an opportunity to teach in Saudi Arabia.
Leach's defence Advocate, Jodine Coertzen, wanted to know more about how he met Vicki. He shared the story of how he was invited to a braai at Vicki's house, describing her as a beautiful woman with whom he connected.
Leach who testified that his drugs of choice were "uppers" said he did smoke Mandrax for the first time at Vicki's home, which would bring you down to a more mellow state.
When asked about his relationship with Vicki's son, Leach smiled for the first time, recalling how they bonded and played video games together.
At this point, according to Leach he was also in charge of parental duties as Vicki never left her room anymore, did not ask the child how his day was or helped with his homework.
He said he wanted to meet this Arnold guy whom Vicki spoke so negatively about, a man he said, his son also feared.
Leach got word from his former fiance that a private investigator was fishing for information about him and wanted to meet with her, she told him to watch his back.
Leach said soon after that Arnold got hold of his phone number but communications took place on Krystal Wiggill's phone.
Messages were all about instructions about the child as Arnold expressed concern that there were different rules in the two homes.
The child's pills had to be taken at a certain time, his bedtime was set at 8 pm and there was once a reminder to ensure that the child took his math book to school to not use it as an excuse not to go to school.
Leach said he did not know if it was Krystal or Arnold speaking to him, since the messages came from her phone.
When the infamous meeting took place at the Chelsea Sports Bar, Leach expressed his concern about Vicki's drug use and informed Arnold that Vicki had lost the baby, he confessed to Arnold that their relationship was not in a good place and he did not see it working out.
He said if they broke up he would have no place to stay, and although Arnold said he would assist him in finding accommodation it never materialised.
Leach said he saw this as a good opportunity to tell Arnold that Vicki was looking for a hitman to take him out, and although he (Leach) first thought Vicki was joking he heard from a friend that she had asked him too.
Arnold then (allegedly) opened up about his life with Vicki and how he needed help with a letter to the family court that would greatly assist him in the divorce proceedings.
When they walked to the parking lot, Leach asked for petrol money to which he said, Arnold took out about R1 800 saying that there would be more where that came from if they got rid of Vicki, gesturing with his finger over his throat.
Asked by Coertzen if any money was discussed as payment for the murder, Leach said no, but figured there were life policies on them both.
When Coertzen asked why he had changed his allegiance to Arnold, Leach confessed that he did not see a future with Vicki and also did not want to be in a relationship with her anymore.
Leach said he first mentioned his discussion with Arnold to De Ridder Jnr, who had a poor-paying job at the time, doing drugs and needing money.
Leach said they later roped in Cullis as De Ridder vouched for him.
Leach said it was Cullis who suggested shooting Vicki but he said that he could never do something like that and another plan, an overdose, was discussed.
Leach said Arnold had only left money for him at the security gate at the Westview Village Complex three times. The first was R5 000.
Leach needed to go to Cape Town and get guns to sell in Gqeberha. He said the guy owed him a favour and would do the "job" for him.
A second amount of R1 200 was left for the vehicle upgrade as Leach wanted a faster car to travel to Cape Town.
He said the last money left for him at the gate was about R1 200 for electricity and dog food.
Advocate Coertzen asked Leach if he thought Krystal Wiggill was aware of the plan to kill Vicki to which he answered that he was not sure as he once spoke to Arnold while he was driving his car where the money for the weapons were discussed and a woman was in the vehicle.
He said he had never met Wiggill.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
To catch up on the trial follow the Algoa FM News Exclusive Podcast: Journey to Justice
