The defence in the Senzo Meyiwa murder trial will only cross-examine ballistics expert Lieuetenant Colonel Christian Mangena in May.
On Monday, 15 April, the defence was expected to grill Mangena who testified in August 2023 about the alleged murder weapon.
COURT TO HEAR EVIDENCE OF OTHER WITNESSES IN SENZO MEYIWA MURDER TRIAL
On Monday, State prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi told the court that the defence submitted an application to the Legal Aid Board to finance the cost of the expert.
The court also heard that the families of the accused tried to raise the money to pay the ballistics expert but there is an outstanding balance.
On Tuesday Flavia Isola from the Legal Aid Board told the court that the defence submitted its application on 5 April and that the defence did not include the costs of the expert.
Isola said if the costs are less than R50 000, the approval could take roughly two days but it would take longer if the amount was higher.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHRISTIAN MANGENA’S TESIMONY
In August 2023, Mangena testified that the gun allegedly used to kill Senzo Meyiwa was found in accused 3 Mthobisi Mncube’s possession when he was arrested in 2015 for the murder of an Alexandra taxi boss.
During his testimony, Mangena told the court that lead investigator Brigadier Bongani Gininda contacted him about people of interest in the matter. He further told him that accused 3 was arrested, and police found a firearm in his possession. Gininda then asked Mangena to check if the gun was linked to the Meyiwa murder case.
Mangena said that on 20 July 2020, he received an open seal bag containing a 9mm pistol, the serial number of which was obliterated, and one magazine.
He was able to determine that the firearm was a CZ 75, and through the etching process, he determined the original serial number.
“The bullets in the blue box found in accused 3’s room in Malvern in 2015 were CMJ bullets and were of the same nature as the bullet projectile found on the scene,” Mangena added.
Furthermore, he conducted other tests which confirmed that the projectile recovered from the scene was indeed fired from the firearm found in accused 3’s possession.
Mangena also revealed that two shots were fired inside the house; the first one was fired on the floor at an angle of about 90 degrees, while the other shot was fired in the direction of the door at a slightly downward angle.
“The bullet damage on the door had characteristics of an unstable bullet. The unstableness could have been as a result of an intermediate target between the firearm; it could have been the deceased,” he explained.
Eyewitness and Kelly’s sister Zandile previously testified that three shots were fired during the incident.
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