No bail enrages ‘Smiley’
HE’S CONFESSED, BUT NOW SAYS IT WAS UNDER THREAT Schoolgirl was sexually violated, stabbed and hands were chopped off.
Agrim-looking André “Smiley” van Wyk, the man accused of murdering and mutilating schoolgirl Anika Smit six years ago, yesterday stormed down the steps to the court cells after he was refused bail.
Pretoria North Magistrate Pierre Wessels refused Van Wyk bail pending his trial in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria, for which a date still has to be determined.
He will appear in the magistrate’s court again on April 4.
The blonde schoolgirl’s father, Johan Smit, discovered her naked body in her bedroom at their home in Theresa Park on his return from work on March 10, 2010. She had been sexually violated, had several stab wounds and her hands had been chopped off and removed from the scene.
Anika’s father did not want to speak to the press, but his attorney, Willem Koekemoer, said he was incredibly relieved and satisfied with the process that was being followed and would attend every single day of Van Wyk’s trial.
On September 17 last year, Van Wyk walked into the Pretoria North police station and confessed to investigating officer Colonel Mike van Aardt that he had murdered and raped Smit.
He later repeated his confession to a magistrate.
He apparently also told a cellmate he had murdered Smit, that he wanted to be known as “Smiley scissor hands” and had a tattoo of two hands dripping blood on his chest.
Smit said in a statement he had only confessed because an unknown couple had threatened to harm him and his family and that he now intended to prove his innocence.
He said DNA found at the murder scene excluded him and there were no fingerprints, eyewitnesses or any other evidence linking him to the crime.
Colonel Van Aardt said in a statement Van Wyk had a history of dishonesty, getting into fights and that he had torched a cat while it was still alive.
Wessels said although the DNA did not link Van Wyk to the crime, it appeared that he had made the confession spontaneously and that no one had forced him to do it.
The investigating officer said although the DNA did not link Van Wyk to the crime, it appeared he had confessed spontaneously and that no one had forced him to do it.
He had not told the magistrate about the claimed threats and his sobriety had not been in question.
He said he was 100% sure that the state had a strong case against Van Wyk.