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Vicki Terblanche’s estranged husband, Arnold Terblanche, and her boyfriend at the time, Reinhardt Leach, are accused of plotting her death and are being charged in separate trials in the Gqeberha High Court.
In 2021, it was reported that the 42-year-old mother’s body was found dumped in a shallow grave in Greenbushes three days before her birthday. Vicki had been reported missing by her boyfriend, Leach, who is a former school teacher.
Shortly after the gruesome find, Leach was arrested and has been in custody since October 2021. Then Vicki’s estranged husband, Arnold, was also arrested.
Leach has pleaded guilty to the charges against him, including murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of drugs. Arnold has maintained his innocence since his arrest and was granted bail of R1 million in 2023.
A third suspect, Dylan Cullis was also arrested in connection to the murder. After pleading guilty to his role in the cruel crime he turned state witness and is serving a prison sentence.
Taking the stand in the Gqeberha High Court on Tuesday, Cullis detailed the events leading up to Vicki’s brutal demise, stating in his testimony that it was Leach who murdered Terblanche.
In what can only be described as a ‘drug party’, Cullis told the court how they consumed copious amounts of drugs on the day she was killed, per IOL.
According to Cullis, he met Leach and the state’s witness, Mario de Ridder Jnr, shortly before the killing. He explained how they, with Vicki, consumed large amounts of drugs, including Methcathinone (CAT). He said Leach wanted to get a gun and managed to get a .22 calibre.
Cullis said Leach told them he was going to kill Vicki because she was due R5 million from her divorce settlement. He added that because they were all under the influence of drugs, he did not take Leach seriously, Algoa FM News reported.
Cullis said Leach gave him money to buy Percocet, which was mixed with Berocca and given to Vicki to drink.
He said 30 minutes later, Leach told him it was all going to plan. A short while later, Cullis recalled hearing Vicki gagging while Leach was asleep.
He told the court he tried to wake her up and when she opened her eyes, he dragged her to another room and put a blanket behind her so she would not fall onto her back.
Cullis claimed that he then fell asleep next to Vicki and woke up when Leach walked into the room and accused him of sleeping with her. This is when Leach instructed Cullis to kill Vicki but he said he could not.
He said it was Leach who then got on top of Terblanche after tucking her into the blanket and then using a pillow, smothered her to death.
He claimed that Leach and De Ridder then packed her belongings and items of hers that they wanted to sell into a boot, leaving her dead body in the house for two days.
On October 20, Leach told Cullis and De Ridder to change Vicki’s clothing and put her body into a boot before they went go-karting to set up an alibi. They apparently got another man to dig her grave while they were having fun.
Cullis claimed that he never met Vicki’s husband, Arnold and only saw him in court in November after his arrest.
In his testimony that then continued yesterday, Cullis confused the matter and claimed that Leach approached him in the holding cells shortly after their arrest, asking him to take the fall for the crime, per Algoa FM. He also said Arnold approached him a second time in the holding cells and asked him to change his statement to one that does not implicate him.
In his testimony, he said Leach promised that he and his co-accused, Vicki’s estranged husband Arnold, would look after him if he did.
In his final question to Cullis, State Advocate Marius Stander asked Cullis if he was aware of plans to have him killed in prison, to which he replied yes.
It is the state’s case that Terblanche and other persons unknown to the state conspired to have Leach, Cullis, and Mario de Ridder Jnr killed.
Arnold, who pleaded not guilty to all charges, will go on trial in October this year with a different judge to that of Leach’s. De Ridder, a 204 state witness, will be called to testify, too.
[Source: IOL]
