Men accused of killing Hannah Cornelius remain behind bars

Four men accused of the rape and murder of Stellenbosch student Hannah Cornelius will spend another month behind bars until their trial gets under way.

Vernon Witbooi‚ Eben van Niekerk‚ Geraldo Parsons and Nashville Julius appeared in the High Court in Cape Town on Friday for a pre-trial hearing.

But the case was postponed until April 20 because the defence said it had not yet received all the state’s evidence against the men.

They are accused of raping and murdering 21-year-old Cornelius after they hijacked and kidnapped her and her friend‚ Cheslin Marsh‚ in the early hours of May 27‚2017.

Marsh was stabbed and hit with a brick but managed to find help after he was left for dead in Kraaifontein‚ 15km west of Stellenbosch. Cornelius’s head was crushed by a rock after she was stabbed several times.

The accused are thought to have played different roles in the crimes. They are also accused of attacking two other women later that morning using Cornelius’s blue Citi Golf.

Their trial is expected to take between three and six weeks.