German national Kristina Adler was driven to tears with the realisation that she would finally have to take the stand in court today – seven years after being implicated in the murder of a Jeffreys Bay businessman.
After years of testimony, and still no body, the judge finally gave some insight into the matter when he dismissed Adler’s application for discharge at the close of the state’s case.
Judge Thembekile Malusi said the prosecution had presented a case that Adler, 42, needed to answer to.
With Adler’s psychologist in the wings, the Port Elizabeth High Court heard yesterday how the tall, blonde mother of two was now taking strain and had been prescribed tranquillisers, sleeping pills and anti-depressants as a result.
Her behaviour now is synonymous with testimony from state witnesses, who claimed hat Adler was distraught on August 14 2009, when her then common-law husband and co-accused, Jens Leunberg, 40, was spotted with blood on his shirt, and Schroeder was reported missing.
It is the state’s case that Adler and Leunberg tried to defraud Schroeder out of millions of rands through the sale of his Thornhill farm, Owvanhuk.
When Schroeder – who also hails from Germany – allegedly went to confront them, he was killed. His body has never been found. Defence advocate Elsabet Theron brought an application – in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act – for Adler’s discharge on the count of murder only.
In opposing the application, state advocate Marius Stander highlighted the evidence of the couple’s domestic worker, Yolanda Majoka, who witnessed Schroeder’s arrival at Owvanhuk, where Adler and Leunberg were already residing.
After Schroeder spent time chatting to the couple, they all walked in the direction of the stables – the last time he was seen alive.
“That specific day, Majoka was going home to Jansenville and the initial arrangement was that [Leunberg] would take her to Uitenhage,” Stander said.
“At around 1pm Leunberg came into the kitchen and informed Majoka that Adler would instead be dropping her off. During this conversation she observed blood on his clothes.
“En route to Uitenhage, [Adler] was mostly crying.”
Majoka said when she returned to the farm after a couple of days, she noticed the blood-stained clothing had already been washed and ironed.
Theron said yesterday that her client was prescribed new medication at the weekend and was still suffering from side effects.
Malusi said he would give reasons for dismissing the application in conjunction with his judgment at the conclusion of trial.