Inge Lotz Murder: The aftermath (I)
Now that Fred van der Vyver has been found not guilty, one wonders what the fallout will be. In latest media reports it is speculated that the van der Vyver family could sue the police for up to R20-million in damages for wrongful arrest, malicious prosecution, the cost of his defence, loss of income and damage to his reputation.
However I feel that a lot more should happen. Certain of the police should be arrested and charged for defeating the ends of justice at the very least. This will send a very clear message to the police to do their jobs properly!
First up should be former police footprint expert Bruce Bartholomew. He blatantly lied and mislead not only the court but also the state team and his superiors. He would have gotten away with the lies had Bodziak not heard of it and contacted the defence team. Judge van Zyl called his testimony “unreliable and misleading”.
Second up is the police ballistics expert Frans Maritz. He presented misleading information on the ornamental hammer by not mentioning that it had bent on the first strike during tests on the pigs carcass. He then replaced the bent hammer with another identical one for presentation in the court. Judge van Zyl said that this “bordered on the unprofessional and that his presentation in court was “unscientific”.
(Rest of post unrecoverable)
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