Murdered Reiger Park toddler Cuburné van Wyk was strangled by his killer‚ but when his body was set alight he was not yet dead. Testifying at the South Gauteng High Court‚ sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court in Katlehong‚ southeast of Johannesburg‚ on Tuesday‚ forensic pathologist Dr Akmal Khan said that strangulation and fire both contributed to the boy's death.Khan performed an autopsy on the three-year-old in August last year shortly after his death.The child's burnt body was found at a mine dump near Ramaphosa Informal Settlement‚ Reiger Park‚ east of Johannesburg on August 9 last year. He had disappeared three days earlier.Nathaniel Katlego "Chicken" Mpoku‚ 25‚ from Ramaphosa Informal Settlement‚ is accused of kidnapping and murdering Cuburné and is on trial for his alleged crimes.On Monday‚ a 16-year-old boy‚ who by order of the court cannot be named as he is a minor‚ testified that Mpoku was the last person he had seen with Cuburné on the afternoon he disappeared.Mpoku was seen giving Cuburné biscuits at a soccer field in Ramaphosa Informal Settlement. When Mpoku left the soccer field‚ Cuburné followed him‚ the boy said.Mpoku has pleaded not guilty.Khan said that pink discolouration of the body tissue‚ indicating carbon monoxide poisoning‚ and black soot found in the airways showed that Cuburné might have gasped for air and inhaled smoke before he died.Approximately 70% of the boy's body had been burnt‚ he said.A blue jersey that was bound tightly around Cuburné's neck had caused bleeding of the neck muscles and salivary glands – this was consistent with strangulation‚ Khan said.Khan also said he believed that Cuburné was not killed on the day he disappeared. When he examined the body‚ decomposition‚ which usually starts 36 hours after death‚ had not yet begun.No evidence of witchcraft or sexual assault were found on Cuburné's body‚ Khan said.Koi November Mphuthi‚ a man employed at the mine dump where Cuburné's body was found‚ crime scene investigator Warrant Officer Dirk Booysen and investigating officer Captain Phillip Radebe also testified for the state on Tuesday.Radebe said that the accused's DNA was not found on the blue garment that was used to strangle Cuburné. He also said that when he joined the case‚ two days after the body was found‚ he discovered that the initial investigation had not been done properly.The trial continues on Wednesday. - RDM News Wire, The Times..