The man accused of killing Bay mother Vicki Terblanche brought his first bail application in the Gqeberha High Court this week where he indicated his intention of pleading not guilty.
In an explosive affidavit from Reinhardt Leach dated February 2023, he not only describes in detail how he met the deceased, but also pinned the murder on Dylan Cullis - who is already serving an 18-year prison sentence for his role in the crime.
Leach also implicated Vicki's estranged husband, saying Arnold allegedly offered him money if he could get rid of his estranged wife.
The State alleges that Leach penned his affidavit shortly after hearing about the plea deal Cullis had made with the state where he implicated Leach.
In Leach's affidavit, he admits to mixing Percocet drugs into a glass of Berocca, before giving it to Vicki, however, when she did not believe him he drank half of it himself and they both fell asleep after having sex.
Leach said while fast asleep state witness Mario De Ridder Jnr woke him up when he realised Vicki was not in bed next to him.
He said he heard her screaming and ran to the spare bedroom where he saw Dylan Cullis sitting on top of her with a pillow over her face, suffocating her.
Leach said it all felt like a bad dream as it was never part of their plan.
"I said WTF are you doing? So Dylan said just go outside the room and myself and Mario left the room.
"It was like a bad dream.
"I did not know what was going on and why.
"I did not ask him to do it as someone would clearly see that she was strangled or suffocated to death," reads the affidavit.
Leach further stated that he was "90% sure" that Dylan or both he and Mario raped Vicki while she was asleep, which is why she started screaming.
In the lengthy affidavit, Leach said they discussed Terblanche's comment about giving them money to get rid of Vicki and said it was Dylan and Mario who were more interested as to how much money they would get.
"I said he is about R50 million strong and getting rid of her saves him money, which is money that we could get" he added.
The affidavit from Leach is in stark contrast to that of Cullis who accused Leach of forcing him to kill Vicki, before doing it himself.
Leach went into detail as to how he first met Vicki and fell in love with her but later said she was a lazy drug addict who wanted everything on a silver platter, constantly using drugs, even in front of her minor child.
He said Vicki painted Arnold as a horrible man and asked him to have him killed.
"At first I thought she was joking with me, but she frequently asked me to find someone who would do it"
"A few weeks passed and my eyes went open and saw a different side of Vicki, almost like she had a split personality," he said
Judge Mandela Makaula will deliver his judgment on the 4th of July.
For more details on this case catch up on our exclusive podcast "Journey-to-Justice".
A new episode will be released next week.
