Court convicts one man of 2011 murders
Accused who provided knife smiles at public gallery on being found not guilty
ONE of the men accused of a brutal double murder in Schauderville in 2011 turned briefly towards the public gallery of the Port Elizabeth High Court and smiled as he was found not guilty on all charges yesterday.
But while Sheldon du Plessis, 22, of North End, was acquitted on all charges, his co-accused, Ryan Thomas, 24, of Schauderville, was found guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances and two counts of murder relating to the October 2011 incident.
The pair had been charged with the murders of Allen Dace, 53, and Bernadito Reid, 36, who were stabbed several times as they drove through Schauderville.
Judge Murray Lowe found that Thomas was the one who had stabbed both men from the back seat of Dace’s vehicle as they were travelling from a tavern in Schauderville early on October 30 2011.
While Du Plessis had testified that he had brought the knife along for protection and had passed it to Thomas during the evening, Lowe said the state had failed to prove that Du Plessis knew that the murders would take place.
Both Dace and Reid were stabbed several times as the vehicle was going down Searle Road. They crashed into a lamppost and died at the scene.
Relatives of both victims packed the courtroom yesterday, some in white T-shirts bearing a picture of Reid. However after judgment was delivered, Du Plessis was led back to the holding cells as he is in custody on another unrelated matter.
Reid’s cousin, Maurishe Reid, said: “We are relieved that this chapter of our lives is being closed, but the loss will always be there.”
Of Du Plessis’s being found not guilty, she said: “I must respect the court’s decision. Only those who were there know who the perpetrators are. If he is guilty he will get his just deserts.”
Dace’s widow, Carol-Ann, was happy that the case was nearly over.
“Until now it has been very hard for me to move on. I met him when I was 16. We were supposed to grow old together. He did not deserve to be murdered in such a brutal way. They could not even defend themselves.
“It has been very hard for me to come to court and listen to the trial and see the pictures.”
She would always struggle to understand why Thomas murdered her husband and his friend. “How could they do such a terrible thing?”
According to evidence presented by several witnesses, Judge Lowe said, Thomas and Du Plessis had been drinking at Aidan’s Sports Bar in Schauderville on the night of the incident. They met Dace and Reid there and asked them for a lift, as Aidan’s was preparing to close.
Earlier that night Du Plessis took a knife from his girlfriend’s mother’s home, allegedly for protection. Du Plessis, Thomas, and two of their friends then got into Dace’s Ford Telstar with Reid in the front passenger seat. The men drove to another tavern, Brothers, where they bought beer and cigarettes before driving on.
Dace dropped one of the friends off at a traffic circle in Searle Road and drove on. The friend who had remained in the car with Du Plessis, Thomas, Dace and Reid told the court that Thomas started stabbing Dace and Reid while the vehicle was moving at about 30km/h. He said he immediately exited the vehicle and ran towards the other friend who had already been dropped off.
Both friends had testified that Du Plessis and Thomas had run towards them, Thomas with a knife in his hand plus a cellphone and wallet, with his hands covered in blood.
“There is no evidence that there was more than one knife, [or] that there was anyone else on the scene who could have stabbed [Dace and Reid],” Judge Lowe said.
The mother of one of the friends also testified that he had arrived at her home early that morning, allegedly to tell her son what to say if he was questioned about the incident. “The only conclusion is that he was the perpetrator in the attack,” Judge Lowe said.
He said there was not sufficient proof that Du Plessis had actively participated in the offences. Du Plessis had testified that he did not know what Thomas had intended to do with the knife.
Sentence will be passed tomorrow.