The man accused of murdering Dr Natheem Jacobs has confessed to “stabbing a man” on the night the vet was killed.
Murder accused, Jovan Williams, stunned the Athlone Magistrate’s Court yesterday when he boldly took the stand in his own defence for the continuation of his bail hearings and made the shocking admission.
The alleged skelm from Bokmakierie is accused of stabbing the friendly veterinarian, who worked for the Cape of Good Hope SPCA, during a scuffle outside his Garlandale home.
Jacobs had heard a noise and when he went to check it out, he caught a group of skelms trying to steal the wheels off of his wife’s car.
In the ensuing scuffle, the doctor was fatally stabbed.
After months of searching, Lieutenant-Colonel Adrian Pretorius from SAPS turned to the Daily Voice for help and shortly after Williams’ picture was published, he handed himself in to the police.
In his first two court appearances, it was revealed that on the scene, investigators found the wheelie bin the group had used to transport the stolen wheels, a backpack with tools, and a cellphone containing Williams’ details.
It was also revealed that he has previous convictions for the illegal possession of ammunition, drugs and malicious damage to property.
During court proceedings on Wednesday, Williams ignored a warning from the magistrate against speaking about the merits of the state’s case before the trial, and sommer incriminated himself.
According to Williams, on the night of the murder he was visiting a friend only known as “Junaid” and said he used Lady May Street to get back home.
Williams claimed he randomly came across a backpack and wheelie bin in the middle of the street.
He said that he used the light of his cellphone to look inside the bin and saw car tyres, before finding himself suddenly surrounded by three men.
“The one had a baseball bat and they asked me what I was doing there but before I could answer, they started assaulting me. The one was holding me and I grabbed my pocket knife and I stabbed him,” Williams said, demonstrating the motion to the court.
But the state prosecutor and the magistrate accused him of being a liegbek, as in an earlier statement by his lawyer, he claimed his cellphone had been missing for a long time before the murder.
Yet on Wednesday, he claimed he used the cellphone light and then dropped the phone while being assaulted.
A Daily Voice source revealed that during the investigation, cops found pictures of wheels on Williams’ cellphone which they believe was proof that he was part of a theft syndicate.
The prosecutor also grilled Williams about his drug use after he denied being a druggie, and abusing his ex-wife who had obtained a protection order against him.
The case was postponed to 29 August
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