THREE KwaNokuthula residents accused in the sadistic double murder of a Plettenberg Bay couple on a smallholding last October are to be tried in the High Court, an indication the state is seeking the severest punishment.

Bongani Mateyise, 23, Luvuyo Ngabon, 21, and Silingiswe Singaphi, 20, appeared again briefly in the Knysna District Court yesterday for a postponement to August 25, when a date will be set for their High Court trial.

The three men were arrested less than a week after the horror murder of builder Willie le Roux, 53, and his wife Julie, 50, on their smallholding near Kranshoek on October 11 last year.

Willie’s hands were wired together before he was killed by numerous blows to the head with a heavy, blunt object and he was also stabbed in the heart. Julie was murdered execution- style by a single gunshot to her forehead, also while her hands were bound together.

Her killer fired the shot through a pillow, apparently to muffle the sound.

A number of items stolen from the house were later recovered by police, including two laptop computers, cellphones and a .38 revolver.