Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘I could not believe that he killed her’
Courtney’s mom admits cover-up
THE mother of murdered Courtney Pieters testified in the Western Cape High Court this week that she “covered up” for the man accused of raping and murdering her daughter – because she just could not believe he killed her.
Juanita Pieters admitted that she was partly to blame for Courtney’s death as she had left the 3-year-old alone at home in the care of her 6-yearold brother when she went to work on the morning of May 4, 2017.
Mortimer Saunders, who shared a house with the family in Elsies River, is on trial for the rape and murder of Courtney.
In a statement read out by his defence advocate, Morné Calitz, Saunders admitted to murdering the toddler but denied raping her. He also asked for forgiveness.
“I have forgiven Morty but I will never forget,” said an emotional Pieters.
Courtney’s body was found on May 13, 2017, near a dumping site in Epping and was positively identified by her parents the next day.
Pieters said that when police showed them CCTV footage of Saunders dumping a body, she lied and said she did not recognise the man in the video. “I didn’t want to believe that it was Morty. We knew him as a decent person. I didn’t expect it of Morty,” she said.
Pieters recalled the events of Courtney’s disappearance and how they searched for nine days before the little girl’s body was found.
“The police asked me to call Morty on the phone to ask him to come to the police station. Morty asked me, ‘Netta, what do they say and who is it?’ I said just come, we can talk about that later. I was surprised by this question. Morty never showed up,” said Pieters.
She described Saunders as a quiet person who loved children, adding that he loved Courtney very much.
She also admitted that their relationship was strained and that Saunders often caused trouble between her and her partner, Aaron Fourie, who was a close friend of the accused.
“We did not like each other but when he asked me to do something for him, I did it and he paid me,” said Pieters.
She told the court that the week of Courtney’s murder, she was unable to pay the woman who usually looked after her as she did not have money.
“I did leave her and her brother alone in the house at times but I would be close, at a neighbour’s house or somewhere in the street. I never left them alone for so long,” said Pieters, who cried and said she felt hurt and took responsib- ility for leaving her children alone.
Pieters testified that she left the children at home because she knew that the woman who looked after them previously was at home and would keep an eye on the children.
She denied that Saunders had at one stage shared a room with the family and said he often slept on the couch before eventually moving into his own room in the house.
The trial continues.