A Kareedouw guesthouse owner, who was arrested and charged for murder after two people died from carbon monoxide poisoning, has denied responsibility and guilt for the deaths at the establishment.
Kliphuis Guesthouse owner Kevin Pretorius told the Gqeberha regional court on Friday that it was not his fault the couple died and he would not take responsibility for the April 2020 deaths of Mari Hoon and Jean Vosloo.
“I do not feel guilty for what happened to them,” Pretorius said.
Pretorius said the guesthouse on the Zuuranys guest farm near Kareedouw, which had no building plans, was a happy place where he and his family often visited.
“Why would I want anyone to suffer there?
“Something happened there that I did not want to happen,” he said.
Pretorius was arrested nearly a year after Hoon, 28, and Vosloo, 25, were found dead in the bathroom of the room they were staying on April 26 2020.
After appearing in the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court, where he was officially charged with murder, Pretorius was released on R1,000 bail.
During previous court proceedings, it emerged that before the newly engaged couple’s death, a number of guests had previously complained about a suspected gas leak.
According to the state, a gas geyser installed in the guesthouse had a missing flue pipe which, if installed properly, would draw the poisonous gases produced by gas burners out of the geyser, along with excess heat.
Toxicology reports and an inquest confirmed the cause of death to be carbon monoxide poisoning, allegedly caused by a gas geyser.
According to the charge sheet, the charges relate to dolus eventualis, which, as it was found in the case of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, refers to legal intent, which is present when the perpetrator objectively foresees the possibility of an act causing death.
Under cross examination by state prosecutor Johan Jansen, Pretorius said he had been at the guest house two days before the couple’s arrival and had noted that the flue pipe was there.
“It wouldn’t be the first-time baboons damaged the property.
“I can’t say why they would have removed it [the flue pipe],” Pretorius said.
According to Jansen, the entire structure was illegally being used as a guesthouse, as it was below the flood line and should have been demolished.
Asked why he had not demolished the building after the deaths, Pretorius said it would have raised suspicion.
“If I immediately demolished the place, many people would ask, what was I hiding.
“I did not want people to die,” Pretorius said.
It further emerged that after Hoon and Vosloo’s deaths, Pretorius had a professional installer move the geyser outside the building.
“You did not act as a reasonable man,” Jansen said.
“After previous incidents were reported to you, you should have known the seriousness of the situation.
“You needed to warn patrons.
“These unnecessary deaths are due to your fault,” Jansen said.
Pretorius’s lawyer, Alwyn Griebenow, asked for a postponement for two defence witnesses to testify.
The matter was postponed to October 30.
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