New twists in the case of murdered Jeffreys Bay resident Clyde Stuurman, which shocked the close-knit community and saw people rally together to try to keep his alleged killer, Donovan Wolf, behind bars, have been revealed in court papers.
Wolf has continued to proclaim his innocence, claiming he acted in self-defence when he shot Stuurman on February 10 2021.
However, court documents, seen by The Herald, suggest a more sinister plot.
It is now alleged that Wolf, 32, “hunted” Stuurman after noticing him walking in a grassy patch behind his Wavecrest home at about 10pm.
The state alleges that Wolf armed himself with a firearm, jumped into his vehicle and drove off in pursuit of Stuurman.
According to the state, Wolf’s wife, Jodi, contacted the local neighbourhood watch and informed them that her husband was chasing after two suspects in the direction of the R102.
It is alleged that as Stuurman was walking through “relatively dense” vegetation on his way from Beefwood Crescent to visit a friend, Wolf followed him in his bakkie, knocked him over, and drove over his foot.
Stuurman then allegedly took cover in a ditch.
Wolf then allegedly drove to the R102, where he parked his vehicle, and armed with his firearm, walked to the area where he had knocked Stuurman over.
Wolf then shot Stuurman and allegedly placed a knife in his hand to try to create the impression he [Wolf] had acted in self-defence.
He also allegedly planted another knife at the scene to make it appear as though there had been other suspects. .
In his formal bail application after his arrest in late February 2021, Wolf claimed Stuurman had appeared from behind a bush with a knife in his hand, and when he ordered him to stop, Stuurman lunged at him.
A struggle then allegedly ensued and a gunshot went off, which according to a postmortem report, went straight through Stuurman’s chest.
After being denied bail in March 2021 by Humansdorp magistrate Una Rhodes, Wolf lodged an appeal with the high court in Gqeberha.
He was granted R5,000 bail after Eastern Cape deputy judge president David Van Zyl found there was no evidence to suggest Stuurman’s murder had been racially motivated and that Wolf was a flight risk, as suggested by prosecutor Vicky Rossouw.
The state subsequently brought an application for the matter to be referred back to Rhodes.
High court judge Elna Relevas, who has since retired, granted the application, which saw the state submit statements by two responding paramedics and a ballistics expert which brought into question whether Stuurman had been armed and that he had been shot at a distance of at least 2m.
In May 2021, Van Zyl granted Wolf bail after setting aside Rhodes’s ruling, which then prompted the state to bring an application to appeal Van Zyl’s decision.
In papers filed at the time, senior state advocate Marius Stander claimed Van Zyl had erred several times in making his alleged controversial decision to grant Wolf bail, but the application was later abandoned by the state.
In his judgment, Van Zyl gave both Rhodes and Rossouw a tongue-lashing for their alleged irregular conduct in handling Wolf’s bail application, stating the issue of race should never have been suggested.
Wolf has since been charged with premeditated murder and defeating the ends of justice.
He is expected to appear in the Gqeberha high court on January 17.
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