Two days after reporting his girlfriend missing and pleading on social media for her safe return, Gqeberha resident Reinhardt Leach was arrested and charged with her murder.
Leach, 32, became the prime suspect in the murder of mother-of-one Vicki Terblanche, 42, when her body was found by members of the SA Police Services K9 Unit at about 3am on Saturday.
She was buried in a shallow grave on a 22ha plot off Minor Road, Greenbushes.
On Monday morning, after spending the weekend behind bars, Leach appeared in the magistrate's court in Gqeberha alongside alleged accomplice Dylan Cullis, 20, described in initial police reports as being one of Leach’s friends.
The two murder accused kept their distance, refusing to look at one another.
The investigation is being led by Lieutenant-Colonel Kanna Swanepoel and state advocate Marius Stander — the team behind the successful prosecution of wife-killer Christopher Panayiotou, who is now serving a life sentence.
The courtroom gallery was eerily quiet during the men’s brief appearance.
Family members of neither the accused nor the victim were present.
Leach, wearing a black T-shirt and denim three-quarter shorts, occasionally looked nervously around the courtroom.
Cullis, on the other hand, dressed in a dark K-Way jacket and dark jeans, simply stared straight ahead as magistrate Abigail Beaton explained their rights.
Because the state is opposed to their release from custody, the matter was postponed to Wednesday for a date for a formal bail application to be arranged between the state and the defence.
Leach, represented by attorney Theuns Roelofse, and Cullis by Ryno Scholtz, did not plead to the charges and instead opted to remain silent.
Prosecutor Melani Hammett asked for a court order for the men to be held separately until their next appearance on Wednesday.
Cullis, from Newton Park, will be held at the Mount Road police station, while Leach was escorted back to St Albans Prison.
A source close to the investigation said further arrests were imminent.
While investigations continue and a postmortem report is outstanding, preliminary findings suggest Terblanche died due to suffocation.
She was then buried in a shallow grave.
The mother of a 12-year-old boy lived at the Westview Sports Centre in 1st Avenue, Newton Park, on the border of Mill Park and Glen Hurd.
Her estranged husband, Arnold Terblanche, lives in the same complex and they would routinely share drop-off duties so their son could catch a bus to Woodridge College where he attends school.
They would have been married for 15 years in December, but opted to separate in January 2021.
The two appear to have maintained a cordial relationship.
Arnold’s contact details were shared on social media as the contact person when Terblanche was first reported missing by Leach.
Leach, a former Nelson Mandela Bay teacher and junior Eastern Province cricket coach, had reported Terblanche missing to Mount Road police on Thursday.
Then, on Friday, he posted an appeal for help on his personal Facebook page.
He wrote: “If anyone sees her [Terblanche] or knows where she is, please contact me or Arnold Terblanche.”
It is not clear for how long the two had dated.
Earlier, on September 3, he had posted a seemingly happy picture with Terblanche at an airport with the words: “First flight with Vicki, so special.”
Asked about their trip in the comments section, Leach responded: “We were in Johannesburg. Was an enjoyable trip.”
His profile has since been flooded with harsh comments and the hashtag JusticeForVicki.
Additional comments from angry members of the public have even filtered down to the Facebook pages of his parents.
No trace of Cullis could be found on social media.
In June, Leach was lucky to escape with his life when a truck drove into the stationary vehicle he had been travelling in with friends Mario de Ridder, 48, and Johannes Basson, 46.
Leach had climbed out of the Audi on the N2 near the Van Stadens Bridge to inspect a flat tyre when the horror crash occurred.
De Ridder, a stock car racing champ, died in hospital later as a result of his injuries.
According to the initial police report, officers at the Mount Road police station were alerted on Friday evening to a suspicious situation at a unit in the quiet complex.
On arrival, police found that the doors including the garage door were wide open.
While police were still at the house, Leach arrived and indicated that he lived there.
Detectives recognised him as he had reported Terblanche missing the night before at the Mount Road police station.
After questioning Leach, police were led to Cullis’s home.
Subsequently, detectives with the assistance of the K9 search and rescue unit found Terblanche’s body in Greenbushes, police said.
Earlier the same week, another Bay resident was murdered and buried in a shallow grave, also allegedly by her boyfriend.
The remains of pregnant 15-year-old Sinthia Williams were discovered on Wednesday.
She had been buried in the backyard of her boyfriend’s grandparents’ house in Bauhinia Crescent, Thomas Gamble, Kariega.
It is alleged that Williams was stabbed by her boyfriend, Kyle Barnes, 19, who is due to appear in the magistrate's court in Kariega on Thursday on a charge of murder.
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