Luke Skywalker's trial for attempting to murder wife restarts in May

Details of how a Cape Town martial artist, Luke Skywalker, allegedly tried to kill his wife will be known in May when his trial resumes.

On Friday, 45-year-old Skywalker, who may be recognisable to South Africans as the face of an advertising campaign by the Spur restaurant chain, appeared in the Cape Town Regional Court on charges of attempted murder and kidnapping.  

He is accused of attacking his wife, Patricia Skywalker, by repeatedly slapping, punching and strangling her over two days at the end of December 2017 and of holding her against her will at their West Beach home.

Both the prosecution and defence lawyer William Booth said they would be ready to proceed with the trial on May 20, following discussions and an exchange of exhibits.

The court heard that attempts to mediate between Skywalker and his now former wife had been unsuccessful.

Booth said most of the exhibits, including an audio-visual recording from the defence, has been agreed on. He promised to whittle down the number of defence witnesses.

“At least we know that a lot of the evidence will not be disputed. That should save us time when the case resumes. In the meantime we will finalise the list of exhibits,” he told magistrate Wilma van der Merwe.

Skywalker, who is a director of the Shaolin Kung Fu Institute of South Africa, has opened a case of assault against his former wife.