MURDERED Lindley farmer Adriaan Potgieter may have been tortured to death, the Bloemfontein high court has heard
The court was sitting on the first day of the trial of six men accused of murdering the Potgieter family on the farm Tweefontein near Lindley on December 1 last year.
Free State pathologist Robert Book was the first state witness to testify, he told the court that his autopsy on Potgieter revealed 151 stab and laceration wounds.
"The deceased was tortured to death," said Book, when asked by prosecutor Jannie Botha about his first impressions of the body and number of injuries.
The injuries were caused by objects such as a garden fork, panga and shovel or sharp knife, while other injuries could have been caused by a brick or stone, Book said.
He testified that there were 51 head and face wounds and 84 lacerations on the body, of which only 14 had the potential to be fatal.
The court heard that Potgieter either died from loss of blood or a swollen brain.
Book testified it probably took Potgieter "many minutes" after the attack to die.
The State handed in a short panga, used on farms for gardening, as evidence.
The report on Potgieter and photos taken during the autopsies on the family were also handed in.
Earlier, all six men, aged between 18 and 33, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
They face three murder counts, one of robbery with aggravating circumstances and charges relating to the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
One accused, Diphapang Motaung, 18, who was a minor during the incident, entered a plea explanation.
The State alleges that the men assaulted and killed Potgieter, 40, his wife Wilna, 36, and their 2-year-old daughter Wilmien on the day of the incident. Various items, such as cash, were stolen from the farmhouse.
The murders have led to demands for the government to declare farm attacks a priority crime.
The case continues.
Farmer's 151 stab wounds
MURDERED Lindley farmer Adriaan Potgieter may have been tortured to death, the Bloemfontein high court has heard
The court was sitting on the first day of the trial of six men accused of murdering the Potgieter family on the farm Tweefontein near Lindley on December 1 last year.
Free State pathologist Robert Book was the first state witness to testify, he told the court that his autopsy on Potgieter revealed 151 stab and laceration wounds.
"The deceased was tortured to death," said Book, when asked by prosecutor Jannie Botha about his first impressions of the body and number of injuries.
The injuries were caused by objects such as a garden fork, panga and shovel or sharp knife, while other injuries could have been caused by a brick or stone, Book said.
He testified that there were 51 head and face wounds and 84 lacerations on the body, of which only 14 had the potential to be fatal.
The court heard that Potgieter either died from loss of blood or a swollen brain.
Book testified it probably took Potgieter "many minutes" after the attack to die.
The State handed in a short panga, used on farms for gardening, as evidence.
The report on Potgieter and photos taken during the autopsies on the family were also handed in.
Earlier, all six men, aged between 18 and 33, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
They face three murder counts, one of robbery with aggravating circumstances and charges relating to the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
One accused, Diphapang Motaung, 18, who was a minor during the incident, entered a plea explanation.
The State alleges that the men assaulted and killed Potgieter, 40, his wife Wilna, 36, and their 2-year-old daughter Wilmien on the day of the incident. Various items, such as cash, were stolen from the farmhouse.
The murders have led to demands for the government to declare farm attacks a priority crime.
The case continues.
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