Twist in jogger murder trial
THE highly anticipated murder trial of Franziska Blochliger came to a surprise halt yesterday afternoon.
Advocate Ken Klopper‚ counsel for the murder accused Howard Oliver‚ withdrew from the case.
He made the surprise announcement in the Cape Town High Court where the trial started last week.
Klopper told Judge Kate Savage: “My new instruction is of such a nature that I have to ethically withdraw.”
State prosecutor Lenro Badenhorst requested that the “record of evidence be transcribed and handed over for legal aid”.
Blochliger went jogging in Tokai forest on March 7 last year.
She had arranged to meet her mother after her run but when she did not arrive the family started to worry. A search ensued and the 16-year-old’s body was found.
Initial reports are that she had been strangled‚ suffocated‚ sand was found in her throat and she had been raped.
Her iPhone‚ watch‚ headset and diamond ring were missing. Earlier‚ the state called Jared van Wyk‚ 36, who is involved in a neighbourhood watch.
Van Wyk explained that when he got home from work on March 7, he received a message on the neighbourhood watch WhatsApp group about a teen girl who had gone missing in the forest.
Van Wyk and his wife then joined the search for Blochliger.
Van Wyk and his wife walked in a northerly direction and they eventually went separate ways.
Then he came across a takkie.
“I got a chilled feeling [when I looked at the takkie] – I wasn’t going to find a girl answering me back when I called her name.”
Van Wyk said he heard someone screaming and ran to her immediately. He came across a tearful woman who had found the body.
“I turned around and yelled to everyone that they must stop‚ I need SAPS’ assistance at this location‚” he said.
“I went up to the body and felt for a pulse on both her wrists and neck.
“She had no pulse. I checked her body for temperature. Her body felt warm.”
Next on the witness stand was Mark Japhta‚ Oliver’s childhood friend.
Japhta said on the day of the murder, Oliver tried to sell him a phone.
When Badenhorst asked him whether Oliver had a bad temper‚ he answered: “He can get really, really angry.”
During cross-examination Klopper indicated that Oliver said he had never approached Japhta to sell him a phone on that day.
The case will resume tomorrow.