Spanish man accused of murdering his twins denied bail

The Spanish man accused of murdering his twin toddlers in Cape Town was denied bail on Thursday after he offered to pay R150‚000.

Magistrate Goolam Bowa agreed with the state that Mario-Ceasar Yela was a flight risk and that releasing him on bail was not in the interest of justice.

Yela is accused of murdering the children while visiting them in South Africa.

The Wynberg Magistrate’s Court heard that on April 6 he had been involved in a car accident. The children were allegedly in the vehicle. He refused medical help from Neighbourhood Watch members who were first on the scene.

He returned to the Hout Bay flat he was renting and dismissed the au pair.

The state also put it to the court that Yela contacted his ex-wife to tell her that the children had died. He locked her in the room where he left the bodies of three-year-old Maximo and Octavia. He then stole her car.

According to the state’s evidence he told his wife that “he wanted her to suffer as he does”.

She jumped from the second storey window to find help. He was found with small stab wounds to his abdomen and scratch marks on his neck which the doctor who examined him found to be self-inflicted.

The psychologist hired by Yela’s lawyers Professor Tuviah Zabow said that Yela suffered from depression and anxiety and was prone to blackouts when placed under severe stress.

State prosecutor Louise Friester-Sampson asked the court for the case to be remanded until November 20 because they are investigating ''suspicious circumstances'' surrounding the car accident. For this investigation to go ahead they need “the sun to be at the same place (in the sky) as it was during the time of the accident”.

Bowa denied the state’s request and set down the next court date for October 27 for the finalisation of the investigation and for the drafting of an interdict.