Two in court for murder of Adcockvale man

Two men accused of murdering an Adcockvale man at the weekend appeared briefly in the Gqeberha magistrate’s court yesterday.

Herchille Alexander, 24, and John Sodien, 37, face charges of murder, kidnapping, malicious damage to property and assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Both men applied for Legal Aid SA representation and are expected to appear in court again today.

It is alleged that at about 1pm on Saturday, Jacques Oosthuizen, 49, was at home in Nugget Street, fixing his bedroom door when an orange Hilux bakkie with five men stopped outside his house.

Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said the men entered the house and began kicking down doors, which prompted Oosthuizen to lock himself in his bedroom.

When they failed to break down the bedroom door, a shot was fired through it, hitting Oosthuizen in the chest. The men fled in the bakkie. Janse van Rensburg said Oosthuizen was not the attackers’ target.

According to the charge sheet, before the shooting,

When they failed to break down the bedroom door, a shot was fired through it, hitting Oosthuizen in the chest

Alexander and Sodien had allegedly kidnapped another man in Van Der Vyer Street, Adcockvale, and held him captive for a period of time.

The man was allegedly kicked and punched.

Further details of the alleged kidnapping and assault are still sketchy.

Shortly after the shooting at the Nugget Street house, police were tipped off about the alleged culprits’ whereabouts.

Sodien was then arrested at a house in Schauderville, and while he was in custody, Alexander and a 16-year-old boy handed themselves over to police.

The teen was taken to the Nerina House youth justice centre and did not appear alongside his co-accused.

He was released into his mother’s care.

Janse van Rensburg said he was released as there was not enough evidence against him.