Teacher Kirsten Kluyts’ alleged killer admits he wore her top when leaving Sandton park

The Varsity College student accused of murdering a schoolteacher in Sandton admitted to wearing her shirt on the day of her murder and said he used his black shirt to wrap other items of her clothing.

He made this admission on the second day of his bail application in the Alexandra magistrate's court on Monday. 

The 21-year-old student is charged with premeditated murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and rape in connection with the murder of Kirsten Kluyts two months ago. His name has been redacted pending clarity on whether he has pleaded to the charges against him.

Kluyts, 34, a teacher at Delta Park High School in Blairgowrie, was killed during a MyRun event in October. Her body was found on one of the paths near the Sandton Sports Club when people went in search of her when she failed to finish the walk.

The state is opposing bail.

The matter kicked off with a continuation of the accused's evidence, which was led by his lawyer advocate Itumeleng Masako.

The issue of him being restrained cropped up for a second time after he appeared shackled, despite a court ruling that the restraints be removed at his last appearance. Court was forced to adjourn briefly to allow the orderly to remove them.

The accused cut a different figure from his previous appearance on Wednesday. He was dressed in a grey tracksuit and kept a sombre face. He said his tendency to smile while testifying came naturally as he is friendly with everyone and that it was not because he took the matter lightly.

The better part of the morning was spent examining photos taken at the pyjama party the accused allegedly attended the Saturday before the murder, at the sports club and of Kluyts during her walk before her death.

Masako used these images to try to provide proof of the accused's whereabouts between the two days.

Some of the images shared showed a man wearing a blue shirt, hat and sunglasses. The shirt appears to be the same one Kluyts was wearing shortly before her murder. The suspect confirmed it was her shirt he was wearing when he was captured on CCTV footage.

Another photograph showed the suspect at the party with his girlfriend and other guests. In it he is seen wearing what appears to be the same hat.

Throughout, the accused insisted he had no intention to kill or rob anyone.

“I think you wouldn't be right in your mind if that's how you think. I can't just come from a party the previous day, going home to submit an assignment and decide, 'ja, I'm going to kill someone now'. What does that benefit me?” he said.

He denied that police read him his rights or produced a search warrant on the day of his arrest. He alleged he was assaulted by several officers, including the investigating officer assigned to the case, who was present on both days of his bail application.

Last week, state prosecutor Ayanda Bakana said a blunt object was used to kill the jogger.

“The postmortem report [lists] the cause of death as: blunt-force head trauma, strangulation, smothering as well as pressure to the neck,” Bakana said.

“It is the state's submission further that there were items that belonged to the deceased that were taken. Allegedly running shoes were taken, sunglasses, a T-shirt and pants.”

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