Lotter pics nauseate accused

There was drama in the Durban High Court on Thursday when double murder accused Mathew Naidoo felt queasy after looking at picture exhibits.

The photo album contained various pictures of the crime scene and also gruesome post mortem pictures of the two victims, Johannes Lotter and his wife Maria Magdalena (known as Rikkie).

While flipping through the pictures as instructed to do so in the witness box, Naidoo saw the post mortem pics of Mr Lotter and began to feel unwell.

The court then adjourned to enable him to recover.

Looking visibly shaken and as if he had difficulty breathing, Naidoo walked slowly from the dock to a nearby chair, took out an orange cloth and wiped his face while someone brought him a glass of water.

His mother came from the public gallery and comforted him by putting her hand on his head while media photographed the dramatic scene.

The post mortem pictures were removed from the file during the adjournment.

Naidoo was being cross-examined by State prosecutor Sheriza Ramouthar in a trial within a trial to determine the admissibility of a statement he made to the police.

He claimed that police assaulted him and denied him access to a lawyer before he made the statement and that the police coached him in the contents of the statement.

Naidoo has denied murdering the Lotters' at their Westville home and is appearing in court with his two co-accused, Lotter siblings Nicolette, now 29 and Hardus, now 23, who have also pleaded not guilty to murdering their parents on July 19, 2008.

They have said they were under the influence of Naidoo at the time who told them that he was the third son of God.

According to the statement, he had been dating Nicolette and she had told him that both the Lotters had been sexually mistreated by their parents.

Asked by the prosecutor if they had been molested, he said he did not know.

Since he met the two Lotter children he made them believe he was "the son of God and that their parents were evil and God wanted their parents dead". He had sent Mr and Mrs Lotter sms's telling them that their days were gone. This had started as a joke but then became serious.

However Naidoo told the court he had not sent the sms's.

His statement differed to that of his two co-accused and the state prosecutor said that it would have been 'pretty silly' of the police to coach him into making a statement they could rely on in court if it differed from his co-accused.

"I would not know," said Naidoo.

His statement said that he bought a stun gun for Nicolette and that was when he got the idea to use it on the Lotters, and kill them using a syringe to fill with air.

He said in his statement that he used the stun gun on Mrs Lotter and when Nicolette did not have the courage to stab her mother he grabbed her hand and stabbed the mother while Hardus held his mother down.

He then took a kitchen knife and stabbed Mrs Lotter in the neck and chest.

Later after he and Nicolette had returned from a trip to the Pavilion Shopping Centre he found Mr Lotter dead in the hallway with a cord around his neck but did not know who killed him.

Judge Shyam Gyanda said there was "not an iota" of evidence that would come to the aid of Naidoo to support his version that his statement had not been made freely and voluntarily. The statement was then admitted into the court record.

Hardus is expected to give evidence this afternoon.