Kimberley – The State closed its case on Thursday against a 17-year-old youth accused of a triple murder on a farm near Griquatown in the Northern Cape last year.

Prosecutor Hannes Cloete told the Northern Cape High Court, in Kimberley, that all those on the witness list whom he had not called to the stand, would still be available to the defence team.

Northern Cape Judge President Frans Kgomo is hearing evidence in Kimberley in the trial of the teenager accused of murdering Griquatown farmer Deon Steenkamp, 44, his wife Christel, 43, and their daughter Marthella, 14.

They were shot dead on their farm Naauwhoek on April 6, 2012.

Cloete said on Thursday: “All witnesses on the list that were not called are at the defence’s disposal.”

Many of the witnesses became irrelevant during the trial due to admissions made by the defence.

The witnesses included the police’s helicopter pilot, who was asked to help on the night of the murders and the next day; Griquatown farmers; and people who were in contact with the youth during the weekend of the murders.

Willem Coetzee, for the youth, asked the court for a postponement to Monday to decide which witnesses the defence wanted to use.

These witnesses need to be identified, contacted, consulted and be asked to be present in Kimberley by Monday for the defence’s case.

The State agreed and Kgomo postponed the matter to Monday.

On Thursday, Kgomo read into the record his report of the in loco inspection in March of the murder scene.

The cross-examination of police crime scene and blood spatter expert Captain Marius Joubert was also concluded.

Joubert’s conclusions about the blood spatter patterns on a blue T-shirt, allegedly worn by the youth, were questioned, specifically those marks identified as impact spatters.

He was also questioned about his interpretations of the blood flows described on the girl.

The trial continues on Monday.

Sapa