Trial of alleged killer of ex-wife moves to Cape High Court

THE trial of Ashley October and Tashwell van der Rheede, accused of orchestrating the murder of Charlene October and making it look like a suicide, has resumed in the Western Cape High Court following its commencement in the Swellendam Circuit Court.

The two appeared following the testimony of seven witnesses and nine days of uninterrupted sitting in the Swellendam Circuit Court.

Both accused have pleaded not guilty and it has been revealed that one of the accused intends to bring an application to be discharged from the matter as he believes the State has not brought enough evidence to secure a conviction.

They are both charged with four counts of murder, housebreaking, robbery with aggravating circumstances and attempting to defeat or destruct the administration of justice, while October is charged with two counts of incitement to murder and one of conspiracy to rob and murder.

The State alleged that after the marriage between Charlene and Ashley broke down in 2011, the accused hired someone to kill her on two occasions in 2011 and 2012, but was unsuccessful.

In 2012, October allegedly offered a hit man money “to kill the deceased and make it look like a housebreaking and rape”, but according to the State the hit man became too emotional to execute the plan and left.

After he was unsuccessful in his alleged failed attempts to kill his wife on two occasions, the pair were divorced in 2015.

Six years later, in 2021, the two divorcees came to an agreement for October to run a tuck shop on Charlene’s property at Pretoria Street in Elim.

At the time, Van der Rheede was employed by October at the tuck shop.

The State alleged that Van der Rheede, on the night of July 11 last year, broke into Charlene’s house, attacked her and killed her by strangling her with a rope.

The State said: “They subsequently interfered with the crime scene by tying a rope against a wooden beam in the roof to make it look like she committed suicide.”

Charlene’s body was found on Monday, July 12 last year. The post-mortem revealed the cause of death to be “ligature strangulation”.

The trial continues tomorrow.