Specialist evidence in 'demon' trial

The teenager claimed he was possessed by a demon at the time.

 

The trial was postponed in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday to allow Kobus Jonker, an occult expert and sociologist, to consult the accused and study the defence's expert reports before he could give an informed opinion.

   

Lana Augustyn, for the 16-year-old boy, said she would seek a postponement for a psychological report.
   

Such a report would help the court decide on a sentence for the boy, who was 14 when he committed the crimes, she said.
   

In August last year the teenager pleaded guilty in the High Court sitting in Delmas to four murders. 

He admitted attacking his mother, 42, grandmother, 58, five-year-old brother, and four-month-old baby sister with an axe. 

His grandmother survived the initial attack, but died later in hospital.
   

The murders happened on May 23, 2013.
   

The boy is presently incarcerated in a place of safety.
   

According to his plea explanation he and a friend had researched Satanism on the internet out of curiosity some time before the murders.

 

(File photo: Gallo Images)