Bid for bail in 'worst' murder case rejected

[caption id="attachment_38290" align="alignright" width="405"] IN THE DOCK: Vernol Fillis , left, and his co-accused in court. Picture: FREDLIN ADRIAAN[/caption]

THE family of George and Jacoba Venter, who were brutally attacked and tortured at their Theescombe home in 2009, are relieved that four of the men accused of their murders have failed in their bid to be released on bail this week.

Yesterday the Port Elizabeth High Court dismissed the bail applications of four men accused of murdering George, 78, and his wife Jacoba, 67.

The couple were tortured and assaulted during a burglary at their Kragga Kamma Road home on May 31 2009. The next morning their domestic worker found George dead in a pool of blood while Jacoba, still clinging to life, was rushed to hospital where she died a few days after the attack.

At the time, police described it as one of the worst murder scenes they had ever discovered in Port Elizabeth, with blood found in virtually every room. - Lee-Anne Butler