Alleged prostitute throws co-accused under the bus in Pather murder trial

ONE of the alleged prostitutes who is believed to have lured Cape Town father, Malcolm Pather to his death and burnt his body beyond recognition is set to deny her involvement in the murder.

Yesterday, the Atlantis Magistrate’s Court, accused Courtney Nortje, made an appearance for her bail application and heard she was being charged with Section 9 of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act, relating to the activities of the Ugly Americans gang.

The group all together, Nortjie, alongside Stacey-Lee Hector, Wade Van Reenen, Igshaan Abrahams, Kyle Francis, Paul Solomons and Zainoediden Greeff, were slapped with an additional charge, that of robbery aggravated.

The State revealed that the new charge relates to the deceased being robbed of a iPhone 16 Pro, wallet with bank cards, containing cash money and an arm bracelet.

During her time in court, Nortje informed her Legal Aid attorney that she is going to talk about the merits of the case during the bail application, claiming she did not kill the deceased but that her other six co-accused killed him.

When Nortje made this bold move, her attorney requested another to be appointed.

The matter was then postponed to 10 April for another attorney to come on record and her co-accused to appear.

The State is set to prove that the group - alleged gang members and prostitutes - apparently lured Pather in July 2025.

The State is further set to prove that according to the post-mortem, it was the severe burns and drugs intoxication that killed the deceased. 

The State also claims that that Liquid Gee was allegedly administered by Nortje to the deceased twice, causing him to become unconscious.