Crime scene photos were handed in as evidence in the Cape Town high court on Tuesday showing the gun used to murder Cape Town attorney Pete Mihalik.
One of the accused, Sizwe Biyela, peered over a lawyer’s shoulder to see photographs of the murdered attorney slouched over in the driver’s seat of his black Mercedes-Benz outside his children’s school in Greenpoint on October 30 2018.
Biyela, Nkosinathi Khumalo and Vuyile Maliti stand accused of Mihalik’s assassination and the attempted murder of Mihalik’s son.
A police ballistics expert, warrant officer Aasiyah Allie, testified she was called to a shooting on the corner of Thornhill and Calvacade roads at 8.15am.
“We came across a vehicle parked with two bullet holes on the driver’s side window and a man was deceased in the driver's seat,” she told the court.
“There were two fired cartridge cases adjacent to the deceased’s vehicle. This normally comes from a semi-automatic pistol which ejects its cartridge cases out of the ejection port after firing.”
One bullet hit Mihalik in the head, penetrating the skull, and the other superficially perforated his head.
This second bullet hit Mihalik’s son, who was sitting in the back seat behind his father.
Semi-automatic 9mm pistol used in Cape Town attorney Mihalik’s murder
Crime scene photos were handed in as evidence in the Cape Town high court on Tuesday showing the gun used to murder Cape Town attorney Pete Mihalik.
One of the accused, Sizwe Biyela, peered over a lawyer’s shoulder to see photographs of the murdered attorney slouched over in the driver’s seat of his black Mercedes-Benz outside his children’s school in Greenpoint on October 30 2018.
Biyela, Nkosinathi Khumalo and Vuyile Maliti stand accused of Mihalik’s assassination and the attempted murder of Mihalik’s son.
A police ballistics expert, warrant officer Aasiyah Allie, testified she was called to a shooting on the corner of Thornhill and Calvacade roads at 8.15am.
“We came across a vehicle parked with two bullet holes on the driver’s side window and a man was deceased in the driver's seat,” she told the court.
“There were two fired cartridge cases adjacent to the deceased’s vehicle. This normally comes from a semi-automatic pistol which ejects its cartridge cases out of the ejection port after firing.”
One bullet hit Mihalik in the head, penetrating the skull, and the other superficially perforated his head.
This second bullet hit Mihalik’s son, who was sitting in the back seat behind his father.
Allie explained this occurred because after the second bullet penetrated the window, it hit the driver’s plastic arm rest, resulting in the bullet jacket separating from the bullet core.
This separation would lead to the bullet changing direction towards the boy on the back seat.
A bullet jacket was found on the road surface underneath the driver’s side door which is believed to be from the second bullet.
“With a semi-automatic weapon, the jacket does not always separate from the bullet core but it does occur,” said Allie.
“The bullets are consistent with a semi-automatic 9mm parabellum weapon.”
Cronje Kriel, the defence lawyer for Maliti, put it to the witness that both shots were fired at the driver and the boy was not the intended target. Allie said she could not say who the intended target was.
CCTV footage of the incident is expected to be shown in court next week.
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