Murder accused Kristina Adler battled through tears yesterday as she told a court for the first time how she had been an impressionable young waitress working in a German cafe when Jens Leunberg came in as a patron and swept her off her feet.
The beginning stages of their relationship read like a fairytale.
Adler, 43, said she felt like she had won the lottery, with the lavish holidays and flashy cars that were suddenly offered to her.
Yesterday, 14 years later, Adler stood before the Port Elizabeth High Court a broken woman as she told how her life had spiralled out of control to the point that she was now facing fraud and murder charges.
She said her children, aged just three and five at the time, were taken away from her.
“I was not even allowed to say goodbye to them. I have not seen them in seven years.”
Adler, who is charged alongside her then common-law husband Leunberg, was the first to take the stand in the mammoth murder trial.
As she was taken through her testimony by defence advocate Elsabet Theron, the attractive blonde painted a picture of a naive woman who had been in love.
She said she had little knowledge of what was going on with her household finances.
It is alleged the duo, by way of common purpose, tried to defraud German businessman Claus Schroeder out of millions of rands through the sale of his Thornhill farm, Owvanhuk.
The idea was for Adler, an avid horse rider, to offer horse riding lessons to tourists.
It is the state’s case that a bank guarantee for the initial purchase price of R8.5-million was falsified and that Leunberg never had the means to purchase the farm.Schroeder was last seen on August 14 2009, when he found out about their alleged plot to defraud him and went to Owvanhuk to confront the couple.
While his body has never been found, the prosecution believes he was murdered.
Shown a string of documents yesterday in relation to obtaining a business permit prior to the purchase of the farm, Adler said she had seen the documents for the first time in court.
She denied that e-mails reflecting her e-mail address were sent by her.
“I completed my matric and received cum laude in the German language. This e-mail is written half in English and half in German.”
She also said that incorrect “horse terms” had been used.
There was no password on her computer.
Adler said she met Leunberg sometime between 2003 and 2004. He would often come into the restaurant where she worked to order a meal.
Adler said Leunberg owned a successful construction company and oversaw up to 600 employees on jobs across Germany.
“I liked him a lot because he was grounded. He liked nature and animals, just like me.”
She said Leunberg had several expensive cars, including a Mercedes-Benz SLK and an Audi. He began leaving cars at the restaurant for her to use.
“He used to take me out to the most beautiful restaurants. He bought me clothes and filled my fridge with the best of the best food and drinks.”
Later they went on lavish holidays, all paid for by Leunberg. “We flew to the Spanish Islands and to Bulgaria to visit the Black Sea.”
In 2005, Leunberg asked her to accompany him to South Africa for three weeks.
In January 2006, their first child was born.“When I fell pregnant, Jens was ecstatic and told me I no longer had to work, that I could just concentrate on our child.
“I had no financial worries. Because I was pregnant and could no longer train my horses, he hired a trainer for me.
“There was an Italian pram that I liked, it probably cost the same as a small car, but he bought it for me.
“When it came to Jens, I believed I had won the jackpot.”
She said Leunberg took care of the financial side of things while she cared for the animals and their child.
“My dream was always to ride horses on the beach. I had never really heard of South Africa before Jens introduced it to me.”
In May 2007 they moved to South Africa, where they have lived ever since.
“I would never have moved here had I [harboured] any doubts about Jens’s finances.”
She said in Germany there was free education and medical care, so it would have been the practical thing for her to raise her children there, where her family was.
Testimony continues today.Who is Kristina Adler?
Born in Minsk, the capital of Belarus, Kristina “Krissy” Adler, 43, was just a baby when she moved to Germany with her parents.
There she completed her matric before studying computer science and medicine.
She was still busy with her medical degree when she fell pregnant with her first child and had to drop out.
She said she always had a passion for horses and began riding as a little girl.
She participated in show horse riding and the horse she rode went on to participate in the Olympic Games.Adler suffered from severe depression as a child.
This was sparked by her parents’ divorce and later her mother’s split from her stepfather.
Following her arrest for murder, she suffered a nervous breakdown and was admitted to hospital twice.
She is undergoing treatment for depression.
Adler has two children, aged 10 and 13.
She moved to South Africa with Jens Leunberg in 2007. – Kathryn Kimberley