Griquatown girl’s injuries debated
|Published
Marthella Steenkamp, 14, was murdered along with her parents on their farm in Griquatown. Marthella Steenkamp, 14, was murdered along with her parents on their farm in Griquatown.
Kimbeley - The trial of the teenager accused of killing three members of the Steenkamp family was postponed to next week in the Northern Cape High Court on Friday.
Northern Cape Judge President Frans Kgomo is hearing evidence in the trial of the 17-year-old youth accused of killing Northern Cape farmer Deon Steenkamp, 44, his wife Christelle, 43, and daughter Marthella, 14.
They were shot on their farm Naauwhoek, near Griquatown, on April 6, 2012.
The teenager also faces a charge of raping Marthella, and of defeating the ends of justice. A clinical forensic physician testified that the girl had injuries similar to those sustained by attempted rape victims.
During cross-examination Dr Tromp Els said speculatively that the redness on the girl's genitals could have been cause by a sanitary pad while riding a horse without a saddle.
During Els's evidence-in-chief the State handed a bundle of photographs to Kgomo and the witness. No photos were shown on the public monitor in court.
Earlier, the court heard that no semen or male DNA was found during the autopsy on the victim.
The court also heard the testimony of two minors, friends of the youth, about discussions they had with him.
Astrophysicist Nicola Loaring, an astronomer at the observatory in Cape Town, testified to the atmospheric conditions on the farm on the day of the murders. She said the sun was setting at 6.18pm.
Loaring said at the time the State suggested the murders happened, between 6.34pm and 6.50pm, it would still have been light enough to see properly for a fair distance.
Sapa