Corrine Jackson's tumultuous path: From bail application to trial

During her first bail application nearly eight years ago, Corrine Jackson shocked the court when she revealed she owned a collection of swords, knives and loved anime including that she allegedly stabbed Nadine Esterhuizen in self-defence and that they were engaged.

Jackson’s first bail application took place at the Mitchell’s  Plain Magistrates’ Court soon after arrest in September 2017.

After the completion of the application, Magistrate Alvira Bezuidenhout denied Jackson bail stating  she was a danger to another potential victim, by having a new relationship.

Jackson was imprisoned for six months at Pollsmoor Prison, and her new attorney at the time, William Booth, saw her being released on R5000 bail at the Western Cape High Court.

The release saw Jackson facing two more additional charges of common assault relating to two other alleged victims.

Jackson is currently on trial at the Mitchells’ Plain Regional Court.

Last week damning evidence was led by Forensic State Pathologist Dr Varushka Bachan who revealed that Esterhuizen was stabbed 21 times, had seven gaping wounds to the head and that the knife penetrated her jugular vein including the large muscle to her neck and the thyroid and that the killer tried to behead her and ripped her hair out.

She also described the bloodied murder scene in Colorado Park while referring to crime scene photographs stating a cup filled with blood was found in the kitchen.

Jackson’s medical records following her arrest revealed she had wounds which were possibly self-inflicted and had older injuries of self-harm.

During her first bail application in 2017, Jackson took the witness stand.

Today, the Cape Argus takes  a flashback to  the bail application of 2017 in which Jackson was questioned by state prosecutor Darren Johnson.

During her time on the witness stand, Jackson revealed she was a Japanese anime fan and admitted she owned a replica of a Samurai sword and a black knife.

She admitted she suffered from a mood disorder which left her either happy or angry.

Jackson was assessed by a district surgeon who deemed her fit to stand trial.

“You seem to handle yourself quite well, you are intelligent,” said Johnson to Jackson during the bail application, who answered: ‘yes.”

“I have days when I am happy and then it will take one thing to make me angry. I saw psychologists and psychiatrists who showed me how to not respond and to be calm and this was before I started dating Nadine.”

Johnson said a protection order which Nadine obtained in July 2017, revealed she was manipulative.

“You called her a j**** and said she was stupid, said Johnson, reading from the document in 2018 during the application.

Johnson further stated Esterhuzien via her protection order claimed Jackson would be insecure if she didn’t answer her cellphone  and did not approve of her dyeing her hair.

“You were her compass, her guiding light and she was nothing without you and then she left you and made those cases against you, that must have hurt you? Johnson had put it to Jackson at the time.

Jackson claimed she proposed to Esterhuizen after the incident at Strandfontein Pavilion, where she allegedly threw her cellphone into the ocean, and a case of assault was opened, stating that her fiancée's (Esterhuizen's) family did not approve of their relationship.

During her time on the stand, Jackson claimed Esterhuizen became insecure after she posted a  year-old video of her and her ex-girlfriend on Facebook and that it sparked an argument.

She further said during the application while speaking about the day of the murder, that she tried to calm Esterhuizen down and that she (Esterhuizen) stabbed her in the chest and that she threw her against the wall and that they began to wrestle  where she “whacked” her against the head.

She said she got hold of  the same knife and stabbed Esterhuizen in the neck and that she (Jackson)  was stabbed in the hand while defending herself.

Johnson said she had choked Esterhuizen many times, to which Jackson admitted she choked her while she was sleeping.

He further asked how Esterhuizen sustained wounds to the back of the neck if she said she only stabbed her once and that it looked like the head was going to be cut off.

The trial continues on November 4 2025.

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Cape Argus