Man devastated to learn truth about ‘his little girl’ Zephany
THE MAN who raised Zephany Nurse was devastated to discover he had been living a lie for nearly two decades, unaware that the baby his wife brought home in 1997 was not his biological daughter, the Western Cape High Court heard yesterday.
Zephany was kidnapped from the maternity ward at Groote Schuur Hospital. The man married the woman accused of kidnapping her in 1999.
“She (Zephany) looked a lot like both of us. Her forehead is similar to (my wife’s) forehead. She (Zephany) is light of complexion, my skin colour. Her hair is brown,” he said while under cross-examination by State prosecutor Evadne Kortje.
The man, who cannot be named to protect Zephany’s true identity, told Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe he “truly believed” Zephany was his biological daughter, and was devastated to discover his “little girl” had been snatched from her mother.
He told the court his wife had failed to tell him she had miscarried the child they had conceived five months before she had brought Zephany home on April 30, 1997.
He only learned the truth when his wife was arrested in February last year, after a lengthy investigation by the Hawks, driven by Zephany’s biological father, Morné Nurse.
Recalling the day he first saw Zephany, he felt a swell of pride and was overcome with
joy, not suspecting his wife might have lied.
Throughout his testimony, the man’s wife stared down at her hands, unable to look at his face. His voice trembled as he spoke of the betrayal.
Kortje highlighted the fact he had been in court when his wife was crossexamined, and suggested his version of events might have been influenced by Kortje’s questioning on Monday.
Earlier, in a surprise twist, the woman accused of kidnapping Zephany apologised to the child’s biological mother, Celeste Nurse, for the trauma she experienced after her baby was snatched.
“I am really sorry, Celeste, I never took her (Zephany) from your arms at Groote Schuur Hospital. I am sorry for the Nurses for all the years I brought her up not knowing she was kidnapped.”
She told the court she didn’t tell her husband about the miscarriage in the hopes her fertility treatments would result in a successful conception.
When that didn’t work out, she arranged to buy an adoption from a woman named Sylvia.
She claimed to have met Sylvia at Tygerberg Hospital in 1996. She “received” Zephany from Sylvia at a railway station in Wynberg the next year.
She said at the time of the handover she had had a bad feeling because the child’s umbilical cord still had a pin in it, but she did not go to the police because she was scared they would not believe her.
She said State witness Shireen Piet picked her out of an 11-woman line-up at Bellville police station in February last year because Piet recognised her from a photo Zephany’s biological father, Morné, sent prior to her arrest.
Morné previously testified he began collecting evidence a month before he met Zephany. He said his younger daughter had prompted him to speak to Zephany because she bore a “striking” resemblance to her.
Morné then took his younger daughter and Zephany to lunch at a restaurant, where she said her birthday was on April 30, 1997 – the same day she disappeared.
Morné took the evidence to the Hawks. The suspect was arrested at her home in Lavender Hill in February last year.
The State and defence were set to deliver closing arguments today, with Judge Hlophe set to deliver his judgment tomorrow.