The case against murder accused Arnold Terblanche took a dramatic turn on Monday as his co-accused became the third person to confess guilt, strengthening the prosecution’s position.
In a surprise twist at the start of the highly anticipated trial, Reinhardt Leach opened up about the events leading up to the murder of his girlfriend, Vicki Terblanche.
Seated beside him in the dock of the Gqeberha high court, Bay businessman Terblanche was left stunned as Leach confirmed what the state had been saying all along — that Vicki was killed, allegedly at Terblanche’s behest.
The 36-year-old ex-teacher also used the opportunity to apologise to Vicki’s minor son.
After Leach’s lengthy statement was handed in as evidence, the matter was adjourned to allow the state time to consider whether to accept his guilty plea.
Leach’s about-turn to plead guilty comes after another co-accused, Dylan Cullis, admitted to his role in the murder.
Cullis is serving an 18-year prison sentence, while Mario de Ridder Jnr turned state witness.
Leach said after some time as a teacher, he had decided to pursue a different career.
At the time his friend, Mario de Ridder Snr, who is the father of Mario de Ridder Jnr, offered him a place to stay at his smallholding in Greenbushes.
“Mario [Snr] was well-known as a kingpin in the illicit perlemoen industry,” Leach said.
“After moving into his house, I witnessed how he single-handedly ran the operation. I was not part of the operation until he passed away.”
He said after living there for about a month, they decided to start a business together.
“He had connections with people who owned boats and ships around the Gqeberha harbour.”
He said they applied for their new company to be registered as Gqeberha Ship Chandlers.
“I invested R100,000 towards the company’s start-up costs.”
The next day, the two men travelled to Jeffreys Bay, where they were involved in a car crash and De Ridder Snr was killed.
“I lost not only a friend but my business partner and my money.
“I stayed on in the house and tried to keep the perlemoen business going to take care of myself and the other people staying there.
“That is when I met Mario de Ridder Jnr [the Section 204 state witness].”
But he said the financial situation deteriorated and towards the end of June 2021, he decided to move back in with his parents.
That same day, another friend invited him to a braai and that was when he met Vicki.
“That evening we enjoyed copious amounts of alcohol and drugs, including cocaine, dagga, Mandrax, tik and percocet (“perkies”).
“From that day, [Vicki and I] spent all our time together.”
The parties, alcohol and drug abuse continued.
“As [Vicki] and I got to know each other, she spoke of her husband, Arnold.
“She described him as a control freak and a narcissist. I believed she feared him.”
He said the agreement was that their son lived one week with Terblanche and the next with Vicki.
Each week that parent would make the boy’s meals, take and fetch him from school, and oversee his homework.
“The day I met [the child] we had a lot of fun. We bonded over gaming.
“He was in grade 5 at the time and coincidentally that was the grade I taught for the longest period and enjoyed most. It was just so easy to take care of him.”
He said he quickly took over Vicki’s parental responsibilities.
From about August 2021, he said Vicki mentioned hiring a hitman to kill her soon-to-be ex-husband as this would greatly improve her chances of inheriting money as opposed to the divorce.
At first, he thought she was joking but she became persistent.
“Because of my love for her and wanting to protect her, I started asking around for a hitman.”
He said they found two options for hitmen but never went through with it.
In September 2021, Terblanche reached out to him, asking to meet.
“The deceased refused and forbade me from meeting Arnold. After this, I started seeing a different side to her.”
Things spiralled and after chatting to Terblanche via WhatsApp, Leach said he no longer appeared to be the “bad guy”.
“I decided to meet him in person and decide for myself.”
Their first meeting was on October 12 2021, where they mostly spoke about Terblanche’s son and his daily routine.
“Thereafter, the conversation shifted to the deceased and myself. He spoke of their history.
“At the end of the meeting, I had formed a positive impression of Arnold and I honestly believed the deceased did not deserve custody of [their son].
“I confirmed that she was using drugs.
“I told him things weren’t great between us and I was considering moving [out].
“Arnold told me he would help with accommodation if I helped him prove the deceased was on drugs.
“After that, I felt he should know the deceased wanted me to arrange someone to kill him.”
He said Terblanche gave him R2,000 for petrol.
“As we exited the Chelsea Sports Bar, Arnold stopped and said the money he gave me was small change, nothing compared to what I would receive if I helped him get rid of Vicki.”
He said Terblanche illustrated this by putting his hand to his throat.
When he returned home, he acted like everything was normal.
They went for a braai in Sherwood, and that was where he met Cullis.
He said on October 14 2021, he and Terblanche decided to use alternative cellphones to communicate.
On October 18, Leach, De Ridder Jnr and Cullis indulged in drugs.
Leach suggested they go for a drive and he explained Terblanche’s plans for Vicki.
“They sounded interested. Dylan said he could phone some people for a firearm.”
However, after some back-and-forth, they came up with the idea of making it look like a drug overdose.
He said they went to Schauderville to buy percocet.
“The effect of the drug is that it leads to drowsiness and puts you on a high.
“The drugs had a severe side-effect on the deceased and I took her to the main bedroom.
“I stayed with her for a while and then went to mix more perkies with Berocca. The plan was ... for her to eventually be knocked out.”
When she said the drink tasted weird, he took a few sips to prove to her that everything was OK. She then drank the rest.
He said they had sexual intercourse and fell asleep.
“Mario woke me and said I must come quickly to the room where Dylan was.
“I saw Dylan [holding] a pillow over her face. He was suffocating her.
“I shouted at him. He said it [drugs] was taking too long.
“I was upset as he had messed up the plan to make it look like an overdose. He responded that we will be rich.”
They then planted drugs throughout the house to make it look like Vicki had gone on a binge.
They also collected her clothes, jewellery and other personal items.
They changed Vicki’s clothing as she had urinated on herself, wrapped her body in a sheet, and moved her to the car boot.
“We then drove around, trying to figure out how to get rid of the body.
“I then phoned Arnold to inform him that it was done and asked if he could assist us with a boat but he claimed there was something wrong with the motor.
“At that stage, Arnold suggested we report her as missing and to make sure we mentioned her drug use.”
They decided to go go-karting to create an alibi.
They then met up with a person in Greenbushes, identified only as “Peanut”.
“Mario and I spoke to Peanut and he agreed to dig a grave in exchange for money.”
They waited at Chelsea Sports Bar until the grave was ready and then dumped Vicki’s body.
They then sold her personal belongings to buy drugs and alcohol.
On October 21 2021, Leach reported Vicki missing.
On October 23, Leach and Cullis were arrested.
Terblanche was arrested on November 17.
Leach said the drugs found on him at the magistrate’s court before his appearance on January 22 2022 had been purchased for him by Terblanche.
“I admit I was at the house when Vicki was killed. Together with Mario and Dylan, we formed a plan to kill her as suggested by Arnold.”
The case was postponed to Tuesday for the state to indicate if they have accepted Leach’s guilty plea.
In that case, their trial will be separated and sentence proceedings will follow.
If not, evidence will be led in respect of both Terblanche and Leach.
The Herald
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.