Dewani shooting seemed accidental: Defence

Francois van Zyl, for Shrien Dewani, said the wounds caused by the bullet were not normally seen in an execution-type killing.

 

"It has all the hallmarks of a shot that went off that was not supposed to go off at the time."

 

Dewani is accused of masterminding the murder of his wife during their honeymoon in Cape Town in 2010. He has pleaded not guilty to the five counts against him, maintaining that the couple were the victims of a hijacking in Gugulethu, Cape Town, on November 13, 2010.

 

Xolile Mngeni is serving life in jail for pulling the trigger, while Mziwamadoda Qwabe is serving a 25-year jail term, and shuttle taxi driver Zola Tongo 18 years.

 

During Qwabe's cross-examination it emerged that the men did not discuss at which location they would shoot her at or where in the body she would be shot.

 

Van Zyl questioned why Qwabe would drive the hijacked shuttle taxi to a residential area while Anni Dewani still needed to be shot.

 

"If a person wanted to sexually molest or rape the deceased by threatening her with a firearm, pulling her leg, that is not something one would easily do in a residential area," Van Zyl said.

 

He put it to Qwabe that he would have driven to a bushy area if that had been his intention or if he wanted to pull her out the car first so that the vehicle would not be damaged.

 

Qwabe said he could not comment.

 

Van Zyl hinted that perhaps the men had known that the husband was rich and that they could demand money if they kept his wife hostage somewhere.

 

Qwabe said he did not know the man was rich.

 

In re-examination, prosecutor Adrian Mopp asked Qwabe what the primary objective was that evening, to which he replied "to kill the wife".

 

Deputy Judge President Jeanette Traverso asked whether he agreed with the defence's suggestion that a kidnapping had gone wrong.

 

"There was never anything about a ransom," Qwabe replied.

 

Dewani seemed emotional as the defence asked questions about events in the hijacked car.

 

He sobbed softly, his lips trembled and he rocked back and forth. His team then passed a tissue to him.