The estranged husband of slain Gqeberha mother Vicki Terblanche has made his first appearance in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court.
Fifty-three-year-old Arnold Terblanche, dressed in khaki pants and a black shirt and jacket, seemed calm and relaxed as he entered the dock with a bottle of water in his hand.
His young girlfriend, dressed in a black suit and white blouse, and a few other supporters were also in court on Friday.
The accused and his girlfriend made brief eye contact, greeting each other with a loving smile before Arnold gave a thumbs up to an unknown gentleman sitting in the back row of the gallery.
(Two women attended Arnold's court appearance, the woman on the right is believed to be his girlfriend.)
Terblanche was arrested at his house in Mill Park on Wednesday evening - nearly a month after police arrested his two co-accused, former primary school teacher, 32-year-old Reinhardt Leach and 24-year-old Dylan Cullis.
Just minutes after the husband's first appearance, the matter was moved to the courtroom next door for all three accused to stand in the dock together.
Leach looked around at the gallery and waved to his parents who were seated in the back row.
He was the boyfriend of 42-year-old Vicki Terblanche who was murdered on the 18th of October, and her body was found in a shallow grave in the Greenbushes area.
The state indicated that Terblanche was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder, a Schedule 6 offence, and would therefore be opposing bail.
It is the State's case that all three accused and other persons unknown to the State conspired to kill Vicki.
It is further alleged that the three accused, the one, the other or all of them acted together, first drugged Vicki with Percocet, a schedule 6 drug, before suffocating her with a pillow.
The State says Leach and Cullis are facing an additional charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances for stealing various items of jewellery, money and electronic devices.
The accused will also be charged for defeating the ends of justice, as it is alleged that they deleted Facebook and other social media profiles to obstruct justice, planted drugs in Vicki's house, buried her in a shallow grave and did a factory reset on various digital devices.
The case was postponed to the 26th of November for a formal bail hearing.
On Thursday, it was also revealed in court by defence attorney Ryno Scholtz, who is appearing on behalf of Cullis, that his client will no longer be applying for bail.
At the time of her murder, Vicki and Arnold were in the process of getting a divorce and had been separated for several months.
Arnold Terblanche is being detained at Mount Road Police Station until his next court appearance.
Arnold's legal representative, Danie Gouws indicated in court that his client, going forward, will now be represented by Francois van Zyl SC- who represented Shrien Dewani.
Dewani famously got acquitted for his alleged role in the murder of his wife, Anni who was killed during a hijacking and robbery while on honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010.
The Vicki Terblanche murder trial will be prosecuted by State Advocate Marius Stander and his team who will be asking for the maximum sentence of life in prison.
