‘Phantom hitman’ account challenged in Durban murder trial - IOL

Terry Guy Viljoen and his wife Kerry-Leigh Viljoen in happier times. The wife is currently on trial for killing her husband together with her lesbian lover and her lover's son.

A woman accused of helping her son murder her lover’s husband has been accused of giving the Durban High Court a fictional account involving a phantom hitman allegedly hired to kill the deceased.

Claire-Ann Smart, who completed her testimony on Wednesday, is on trial alongside her lover, Kerry-Leigh Viljoen, and her son, Robert Pretorius, for the murder of Viljoen’s husband, Terry Guy Viljoen.

The State alleges that Terry was bludgeoned with a crowbar and shot in the head at his Bluff home on December 17, 2023.

During her testimony, Smart told the court that Viljoen had married a man known only as “Mo” under Islamic law during a two-year separation from the deceased. She claimed Mo was a sniper who had been enlisted to kill Terry.

Smart said Viljoen had told her that Mo sent a message saying: “Don’t send amateurs to do a professional’s job.”

She said she understood this to mean that Mo had entered the house after she and her son had left and shot Terry.

However, senior State advocate Nadira Moosa confronted Smart with a statement she made to a magistrate after her arrest.

According to the statement, Mo arrived at the house, called them amateurs, went inside, shot Terry and ransacked the property to make it appear as though a robbery had taken place. Smart told the court she could not remember telling the magistrate this.

Moosa put it to her that Mo did not exist.

Smart’s sister had earlier testified that the family believed Mo was a phantom lover invented by Viljoen. She also said Viljoen had previously claimed that Mo was a sniper who would carry out the killing of Terry, as early as September 2023.

Moosa further put it to Smart that she and Viljoen had discussed killing Terry as early as October 2023, an allegation Smart denied.

“No, we didn’t go out to kill him. We just wanted to hurt him,” Smart told the court.

Smart had previously testified that they wanted Terry to experience what it felt like to be assaulted, alleging that he had abused Viljoen.

However, Moosa challenged this account, pointing to testimony from Smart’s own sister, who said she had never seen Terry assault Viljoen and had, in fact, witnessed Viljoen slap him.

Smart also told the court that Terry had invited her to move into the family home as his wife’s “sister wife” after discovering the affair. She claimed she moved in to protect Viljoen from abuse.

Under cross-examination, she conceded: “It must have been a mistake on my part.”

Smart, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 18 and schizophrenia at 21, told the court she was taking medication at the time of the incident. The court heard that one of her medications was allegedly crushed into Terry’s food on the day of the murder. 

Smart said she heard voices when she did not take her medication but denied that her mental illness had played any role in the killing. She also told the court that she spent five days in custody without medication before being taken to Wentworth Hospital.

Earlier in the trial, two teenagers who lived on the property testified that they overheard Smart and Viljoen allegedly discussing killing Terry.

One said she heard the women say the day before the murder that they would kill him the following day.

Another witness testified that one of the women asked Pretorius whether he had a conscience, to which he allegedly replied that he had the conscience to kill Terry, whom he identified by name.

Viljoen, in her plea explanation, denied any involvement in the murder. She said she had gone to the beach with the children and returned to find three unknown men running from the property and the house ransacked.

She maintained that the crowbar was a household item left behind by previous occupants. She also said sleeping tablets had been crushed into Terry’s food with his knowledge and consent because he disliked their bitter taste.

Viljoen is challenging the admissibility of her statement to the magistrate, claiming she was told that cooperating with police would help her secure bail and that she had no legal representation at the time.