One of the five accused in the Stella Londt murder trial claims he was tricked into making a confession statement to police.
For that reason, a trial-within-a-trial is underway in the Gqeberha High Court to determine whether the statement made by Luxolo Kruisjan will be admissible as evidence against him in court.
Agnes Burns, 91 and her 87-year-old friend Rosemary Langton were killed during a robbery at the frail care centre in October 2019.
Their bodies were found bound and gagged in separate bedrooms, which had been ransacked.
Several valuable items, including Kruger Rands, had been stolen.
The investigating officer, Constable Ridwaan Baatjies testified that Kruisjan had been properly warned of his rights during and after his arrest.
On the day Kruisjan is said to have made the confession statement, Baatjies interviewed him and asked him whether he would be willing to make a confession statement and point out the crime scene and whether he wanted to contact his lawyer for advice.
According to Baatjies, the accused told him that he would need to think about it and he declined to contact a lawyer, stating that he would get one when it was time to appear in court.
The court heard that Baatjies terminated the interview when Kruisjan told him that he was not feeling well and that he would make a full confession later on.
Later that evening, Kruisjan contacted Baatjies on his cell phone.
He is said to have told the investigating officer that he was feeling much better and that he wanted to do the confession, but Baatjies had already gone home.
He (Baatjies) again asked the accused whether he wanted legal representation, before making arrangements with a Colonel who took the confession statement that same night.
According to Baatjies, the accused never expressed his unhappiness with the statement he made, and his signature and fingerprints were recorded on the document as acknowledgement thereof.
State Advocate Marius Stander told Baatjies it is the accused' version that his fingerprints were recorded on the confession statement because a policeman who purported to be a "fingerprint expert" told him his fingerprints were required.
Baatjies said this was "incorrect."
Kruisjan's co-accused are a former caregivers at the centre Nomgebisi Slangveld, Mkuseli Damaneti, Nyasha Manyange, and Akhona Mnxeba.
They face eight charges including murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The trial continues.
