Man allegedly responsible for the brutal murder of lesbian couple was their ‘good friend’
The couple were rapped, tortured and burnt alive
A man thought to be responsible for the murder of a lesbian couple in South Africa was supposedly “good friends” with them.
The man who cannot be named appeared in the Brits Magistrate’s Court on Thursday (January 18), and is one of eight suspects behind the murder of married couple Joey and Anisha van Niekerk.
The charges against the eight suspects, made up of six men and two women, include kidnapping, rape, house break-in, murder and robbery with aggravated circumstances.
Speaking during the tiral, the accused said: “They always came to visit me at the shop.”
He also claimed to have “helped them with their horses.”
According to South African publication the Times, the accused man also claimed that the police tortured and assaulted him into extracting a confession.
He claims he was hit on the nose, ribs and right ear. The left side of his face was allegedly bruised and his left index finger was left broken after police allegedly slapped, kicked and hit him.
The accused also claimed he urinated blood for two weeks after the police allegedly attacked him with a pipe-like object.
The lesbian couple went missing on December 10 last year after leaving their Mooinnooi home for a funeral in South Africa.
When they failed to arrive, police began a search that uncovered their burned out car six days later in the Magaliesburg area.
The eight suspects have been accused of torturing the couple, as the pair were kept in a container before they were killed.