Student tells of Blunden shooting drama
A young medical student described yesterday how she hit prominent Port Elizabeth businessman Shawn Blunden over the head with a marble statue to try to protect her father, who had been shot in the abdomen at the family’s Walmer Heights home. With the gun then pointed at her, Kaylin Williams, 27, said she had put her hands in the air and knelt down next to her dad. Details of the 2015 shooting emerged in the Port Elizabeth Regional Court for the first time yesterday. But the discrepancies in Kaylin’s testimony, and an unexplained bullet hole – bizarrely discovered in a toaster – gave the defence the upper hand, with a confident Blunden seen smiling as he left the court. The 53-year-old owner of Blunden Coach Tours pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of Kaylin and his former brother-in-law, Deon Williams. He said he had acted in self-defence. In a brief plea explanation, defence attorney Paul Roelofse said Williams, 52, had tried to grab the firearm from Blunden’s holster, a struggle had ensued and the gun had gone off. The first bullet hit the toaster in the kitchen behind Blunden. A second shot that was fired hit Williams in the abdomen. It is alleged Blunden then pointed the gun at Kaylin, who had jumped between the two men. Kaylin is the daughter of Blunden’s sister, Cheryl, who was married to Williams. Tension between the family was evident yesterday as an argument over inheritance emerged as the reason for the fight. “This all started because my father and I consulted a lawyer on the Tuesday [June 16 2015] to request a copy of the will following the death of my grandfather [George Blunden] and to inquire who the executors of the estate were,” Kaylin said.
Kaylin and her mom were living with her grandmother at the time. She said Blunden and Marlane had told them that they needed to move out of the Beethoven Street house. They followed her to her bedroom, where Blunden bashed a hole in her locked door and Marlane allegedly dragged her back into the lounge.
Kaylin phoned Williams, who arrived at the house a short while later. She heard Blunden swear at her dad to get out of the house before the first shot was fired. “I heard the shot. I saw him point the firearm before the second shot went off,” she told the court. “It happened within seconds. “At that point, all I cared about was that my father was shot and I wanted to go to him. “I went to stand in front of my father. He [Blunden] was pointing the firearm at my dad. “I said ‘you shot my father’ and that was when he pointed the gun at my chest. I held my hands up, went to the lounge and got on my knees. “I picked up a statue and hit him on the head.” But Kaylin said she was surprised by the reaction of Blunden, who almost seemed happy that he could now claim self-defence. “For someone to be this outraged at something I have every right to do must only mean that there is something to hide,” Kaylin said of her inquiries about the will. “I have for many years suspected that my mother and I may have been denied our inheritance by Shawn and Marlane.” While Kaylin was confident in her version of events, she battled to explain how the first bullet – which she claimed was aimed at Williams – had struck the toaster behind Blunden. Referring to her statement to the police, Roelofse asked why she was now deviating from her initial version that she had seen Williams and Blunden struggle with the firearm. Kaylin said she had been tired when the statement was taken and worried about her father, who had to undergo major abdominal surgery. The trial was postponed to Monday.
