For eight years, the son of a domestic worker allegedly plotted a vicious attack on the couple who had employed his mother.
The only suspect not to wear a balaclava on the night a champion yacht builder was killed, Bongani Faku allegedly looked 73-year-old Catherine Lethbridge dead in the eye and told her how he had been planning her torturous death from inside his prison cell.
Then, another man, who she described as being stocky, allegedly gripped Catherine’s neck in an attempt to strangle her.
When Faku and his two co-accused left the Lethbridge residence in St Francis Bay that night, they likely thought Catherine was dead.
Duncan Lethbridge, 76, was gagged and suffocated to death.
In the Humansdorp magistrate’s court, where the prosecution hinted at the alleged motive for the attack on Thursday, it emerged that Faku’s mother Joyce had briefly worked for the Lethbridges about eight years ago.
The circumstances as to why she left their employment have not yet been revealed.
The couple were accosted in their home on the night of August 15 2019.
Beaten and burnt with boiling water and a blazing hot iron, Catherine, soaked in her own blood, eventually pretended to be dead. Her ringing cellphone scared off her attackers.
Her husband, a well-known yacht builder, died from suffocation after pieces of cloth were shoved into his mouth, which was then taped shut.
Catherine carries the scars on her stomach where the iron was pressed into her flesh many times.
While Faku has been pointed out as the alleged mastermind of the heinous attack, he was allegedly assisted by his cousin, Lukhanyo Faku, and Thobile Grootboom.
The men, all in their 30s, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder, house robbery with aggravating circumstances and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm at the start of the trial on Monday.
They allegedly got away with thousands of rand in cash, jewellery valued at more than R300,000, Kruger rands and foreign currency.
Asked by defence attorney Wayne Mac Gear if she knew who Joyce was, Catherine said Joyce had worked for her for a short period some years ago. She said someone during the course of the investigation had informed her that Joyce was the mother of Faku, one of the accused.
Catherine had positively identified Bongani Faku as one of her alleged attackers during an identity parade at St Albans Prison in December 2019, four months after the robbery.
While prosecutor Johan Jansen questioned Catherine on the relationship between Faku, his mother and the Lethbridges, Mac Gear wanted to know more about the domestic worker employed by the couple at the time of the fatal robbery.
Four days after the murder, Madeline Pisani was fired by the Lethbridge family as they suspected she may have been involved.
Pisani, who had been tied up in a bathroom for much of the robbery, managed to shuffle to a neighbour for help after the robbers fled.
Facing a gruelling cross-examination by Mac Gear, who wanted to know why Pisani was let go, Catherine said: “Because I thought she might have been involved.”
Mac Gear emphasised that “someone” must have been giving Catherine information about Pisani and what had transpired. He said this same “someone” was the person who wanted Pisani fired, given that Catherine would have been in the hospital four days after the attack.
Catherine had undergone treatment for three months due to her severe burn wounds.
On the day of the incident, Pisani denied knowing the attackers. However, at a later stage, she named the accused in a statement to the police.
Catherine told the court during her testimony-in-chief on Monday that one of her attackers had warned her “not to take things out on her maid”. Racial remarks and slurs were also allegedly made about her being white.
Mac Gear pointed out inaccuracies between Catherine’s statement and her testimony in court. She said she had remembered additional information about the attack after the statement was taken.
Catherine was adamant that her testimony was 100% truthful and denied being evasive. Too traumatised to be in the same room as her alleged attackers, she was testifying via CCTV camera.
The Lethbridges had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary shortly before the attack.
The trial continues.
HeraldLIVE
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