Mother cries out in court

PRETORIA: “Dawie, you know you are talking nonsense,” the mother of the late Nicolene Schreuder shouted from the first row of the public gallery in the high court in Pretoria yesterday, before bursting into tears.

Proceedings were disrupted for a few minutes when Rosalind Schreuder could no longer contain her emotions during the murder trial of the electrician and part-time farmer, who allegedly shot her daughter dead at her workplace in Pretoria East.

This was during the point when Dawie Connoway explained to the court that he did not fire at Nicolene, his girlfriend. He claimed that shots went off when she grabbed his firearm and he tried to take it back.

The 36-year-old Nicolene was, however, shot four times, including in her head and died in the parking lot of Manage All Solutions in Moreleta Park, where she was the personal assistant to the chief executive.

Connoway, 38, pleaded not guilty to an array of charges, including murdering his girlfriend and pointing a firearm at security guard Peter Makola. The incident happened on April 29 last year when Connoway went to visit Nicolene at work.

While she was lying on the ground in a pool of blood, Connoway sped off on his motorbike. His mother, Elize Fourie, harboured him on her farm at Rayton, where she hid him in a walk-in safe from the police. She was earlier given a suspended sentence for obstructing justice. Connoway was arrested only the day after the killing.

He testified about their relationship, which, he said, was happy 95% of the time happy. Things turned sour when his teenage son accidentally drove over Nicolene’s dog on the farm outside Bronkhorstspruit where they all lived, killing the dog.

Connoway said Nicolene was heartbroken about her dog, which he understood, but she blamed his family for the incident, which led to fights between them.

He said Nicolene phoned him on the day of the incident and asked him to come to her work. He met her and they walked towards the parking lot at her office.

“She was very emotional. I told her I was leaving and as I put my helmet on, she again grabbed me. I then realised she got hold of my firearm.”

Connoway said the next thing a shot went off, but he managed to take the firearm from her. “She again grabbed it and there were more shots… I saw her lying on the ground and I saw a lot of blood. I decided to just get away. That is probably the biggest mistake I have made.”

He said he could not remember much after that. His next recollection was when the police arrested him.