The Western Cape High Court has found the Klawer Killer, Daniel Smit, guilty of premeditated murder for the horrific death of 13-year-old Jerobejin van Wyk.
Two years after the shocking incident which rocked the Western Cape dorpie, Judge Hayley Slingers has found that as the child was first kidnapped, Smit was guilty of premeditated murder.
Smit last week went on trial at the circuit court in Vredendal, where he provided a graphic plea explanation describing how he broke Jerobejin’s neck and placed him in a freezer.
The death of the young boy in February 2022 sparked an uproar in the rural town after it was discovered that Smit kidnapped Jerobejin and butchered the boy's body after he had allegedly stolen fruit from his property.
Cops found human remains in the drains at Smit’s home two days later and arrested him.
Smit abandoned his bail application claiming he was a Satanist. Later he said the killing was linked to the occult.
He admitted to killing Jerobejin, but denied that it was premeditated. He also pleaded guilty to reckless and negligent driving when hitting the child with his vehicle, but said it was not attempted murder.
In his plea explanation Smith claims Jerobejin made gat of him after stealing the fruit and this angered him.
After he kidnapped the boy he drove home.
He said in his plea: “I was still very angry and wanted to punish him, but I saw that he was scared and decided to give him a sandwich and a cold drink.”
Smit says he was 13 when he joined a Chinese occult group where he was taught to do black magic and participated in rituals to punish mense.
He says while watching Jerobejin eat, “it came over him”.
He broke the boy’s neck, dismembered his body and burnt certain parts in a fireplace and dumped the rest of his remains in a drain.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, says Smit was found guilty on all charges.
Ntabazalila said: "He has been convicted on charges of attempted murder, kidnapping, premeditated murder, violating a corpse and defeating the ends of justice.
“You will remember that he pleaded guilty to five counts but chose to plead guilty to reckless driving and murder [not premeditated].
“We rejected his pleas and pursued the charges we preferred against him which included attempted murder and premeditated murder.
“The State was successful in this and this morning Judge Slingers convicted him on the charges."
Sentencing proceedings have now commenced with Smit’s defence team calling a psychologist to testify.
monique.duval@inl.co.za