De Jager judgment postponed to allow more time for deliberation

Judgment against double murder-accused Johannes Christiaan de Jager was postponed by the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.

Prosecutor Romay van Rooyen said she received supplementary heads of argument from De Jager's lawyer and had answered them on Tuesday night.

Judge Chuma Cossie postponed until April 29 to allow more time for deliberation.

De Jager, 49, had pleaded not guilty to killing 16-year-old Mpumalanga resident Charmaine Mare in January last year, and not guilty to raping and killing 18-year-old prostitute Hiltina Alexander in 2008.

He previously testified that Mare died in an accidental fatal fall, saying he dismembered her body and set her torso alight in a panicked and shocked state.

Besides previously pleading guilty to dismemberment, De Jager also admitted guilt on a lesser charge of theft of Mare's phone, rather than robbery.

He stared from under heavy brows at a horde of photographers around him on Tuesday morning.

Behind him sat Mare's mom Katrina and her best friend Nikita Small.

Katrina was visibly emotional and clutched a rolled-up tissue in her hand.

Both had taken their first flight on Tuesday to witness judgment being handed down.

Small said outside court that she was upset by the postponement.

"It's making me angry now. Why do they keep on postponing and postponing? Why don't they just take the keys, lock him up and throw away the key?" she said.

Katrina said she wanted the death penalty for De Jager.

"They must put him away because my daughter was my pride," she said.