Murder accused Kristina Adler told the Port Elizabeth High Court yesterday she had met Jeffreys Bay businessman Claus Schroeder by chance shortly after she moved to South Africa in May 2007.
Adler, 43, and her then common law husband, Jens Leunberg, were looking for a home to rent and that was when she was introduced to Schroeder for the first time.
They ended up not renting Schroeder’s property, and some months later she bumped into him in his Jeffreys Bay furniture store.
Adler was unsure of the exact dates that they first met.
“A lady working in the shop recognised our German accents and introduced us to Claus.
“He and Jens began talking while I shopped,” Adler told the court yesterday, where she took the stand for the second consecutive day.
Schroeder went missing two years later. Adler and Leunberg are accused of trying to defraud Schroeder out of about R8.5-million through the sale of his Owvanhuk farm.It is alleged that in August 2009, when Schroeder found out about the fraudulent deed, which included a falsified bank guarantee, he was killed. His body has never been found. Adler said that while talking in the furniture store, Schroeder apparently informed Leunberg of a farm in the Thornhill area, which he wanted to sell.
The couple had been looking for a place to live, as well as where Adler could launch her dream business of offering horse-riding lessons to tourists.
While the state believes Leunberg never had the financial ability to purchase the farm, Adler was adamant that up to this point, the father of her two children had always been flush with cash.
Leunberg apparently paid for expensive holidays and bought Adler 20 horses for her new venture.
He even flew her own horse to South Africa from Germany.
Adler said everything was paid for in cash.
Adler, who was unemployed at the time, said she never had the money to buy the farm. It was always understood that Leunberg would be paying for it.
The case continues today.