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Fred van der Vyver said today in court that he never used the ornamental hammer that the state says was the murder weapon.

He told the court that Inge had given him the hammer as a Xmas gift back in 2004. He was in East London with Inge at his parents home when he unwrapped the gift, but put it under his seat and forgot about it.

When Inge was killed, the private investigator told him that a hammer had been found at her flat. He volunteered that he also had a hammer which he thought was in his bakkie. Later when he checked, he found it still under the seat.

Asked by prosecutor Carine Theunissen what his reaction was when the investigator told him about the hammer in the flat, Van der Vyver replied, “My reaction was precisely what I said to him.”

He said that although he drank on occasion, he never used the hammer to open anything and he had never taken it into his flat in Pinelands.

When police asked whether he had anything of value in the bakkie when they wanted to do forensic tests on it, he told them about the hammer.

Theunissen asked him whether he had ever touched the hammer with blood on his hands. Fred replied that he could never remember a time when he did.

Van der Vyver appeared confident and self-composed in the witness box, at one stage stopping Theunissen half-way through a question so he could comment on one aspect at a time.

The day started out dramatically when a press photographer took a photo of Fred in the court. Lead defence advocate Henri Viljoen objected strongly and raised the matter with Judge van Zyl. The judge said that he had told the newspaper, Die Burger, that they could only take photos with the permission of both the defence and the state.

Judge van Zyl then forbade the newspaper from publishing the photo and said that if it did, he would ensure the editor was brought before the court.

The case continues ….

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