Trial of Marine's killer continues

Shepard and three others were accused of beating Williams to death outside Durban's Kings Park Stadium on the night of March 23, 2013, after the Sharks played the Melbourne Rebels in a Super Rugby match.

 

During his last appearance in December last year, the court heard that Williams died of an "unbroken fall" due to his possibly being drunk, not from an assault.

Previous forensic evidence that the cause of the Briton's death was a brain haemorrhage was "misguided", specialist forensic pathologist Dr Steve Naidoo testified on behalf of the defence for Shepard.
   

There were no injuries to his back, or rib fractures, which disputed State evidence that 24-year-old Shepard held on to two people and stomped on Williams, Naidoo said.
   

Five people were initially accused of killing Williams. Grant Cramer turned State witness. Andries van der Merwe, Dustin van Wyk, and Shepard's older brother Kyle, were discharged last month.
   

They had each faced a charge of murder, three of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, one of crimen injuria, and one of public violence.
  

Magistrate Trevor Levitt ruled "uneasily" that the evidence against the three did not reach the required standards of a trial.
   

Shepard would be tried for murder, and was discharged on all other counts.