Disputed email and R3.75m withdrawals feature in Stapelberg murder trial

Two witnesses at the Palm Ridge Magistrates’ Court described a disputed posthumous email, a R3.75 million investment and frequent withdrawals as the trial of Frederik Arthur Stapelberg continued. According to The Citizen (Alberton Record), Stapelberg faces two counts of premeditated murder and two counts of attempted murder over the deaths of Nadine Terblanche and her nine-year-old son, Ruandré Vorster in November 2023. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Vehicle warranty changes and new banking details

According to The Citizen (Alberton Record), Nicole Wearne told the court that Terblanche took out a motor warranty plan for a white 2019 Ford Ranger in September 2023. A debit order of R853 submitted on 1 December 2023 failed, and the company notified the client that the payment had been declined.

The company then received an email from an address associated with Frederik Stapelberg requesting that the plan’s banking details be changed. The firm asked for new banking details and a contact number for security; updated banking details were supplied and the debit order later succeeded. Wearne said the company treated the instruction as a replacement of the authorised banking details rather than the addition of a second account, and that the warranty plan had a single authorised holder.

R3.75m investment and repeated withdrawals

According to The Citizen (Alberton Record), financial adviser Quintin Cass said Terblanche invested R3.75 million, which he said she had inherited, through Momentum, with the investment completed on 12 May 2022. On 20 May she withdrew about R2.04 million to buy a property for cash; the property became part of her estate.

Cass told the court the remaining investment was about R1.71 million and that over the following 12 months Terblanche made about 55 withdrawals, exhausting the money. The final withdrawal was about R15,000 on 17 May 2023. Cass described the pattern as highly unusual and said he warned her that repeatedly drawing down capital would reduce the income the investment could generate.

Cass said Terblanche typically phoned first and then sent an email or WhatsApp instruction. He said she often appeared emotional during calls and sometimes cried, but he said he did not know what caused her emotional state. Under cross-examination, Cass repeatedly denied knowing about any pill addiction and said Terblanche had never told him she was addicted to pills.

Disputed email received after Terblanche’s death

According to The Citizen (Alberton Record), Cass told the court an email arrived on 14 December 2023 from an address associated with Terblanche carrying the subject line

“my last will”

. The email contained instructions about the distribution of assets including the house, car, jewellery and household items, and it referred to Stapelberg looking after Terblanche’s daughter and being allowed to remain in the house.

Cass said receiving an email appearing to come from someone who was already deceased was highly unusual and that he informed family members, who told him Terblanche could not have written the email because of the timing.

Earlier will and estate details

According to The Citizen (Alberton Record), Cass said his firm had helped Terblanche prepare a will signed on 15 June 2022. That will provided for Terblanche’s biological children to receive the remainder of her estate and did not give Stapelberg a right of occupation or use of the property bought with the R2.04m withdrawal. Cass said he was not aware of any later formal will having been made after the 2022 document.

Statements to police and the defence line of questioning

According to The Citizen (Alberton Record), Cass explained he had given a typed statement to police recording that Terblanche had been warned her frequent withdrawals were affecting her capital and monthly income, and that withdrawals were sometimes made at unusual times. The defence suggested the money had funded an alleged pill addiction; Cass maintained he had no knowledge of any addiction.

The matter has been postponed to Wednesday, September 2, when proceedings will continue at the Palm Ridge Magistrates’ Court. According to The Citizen (Alberton Record), the trial will resume on that date.

About the reporting

Product of Caxton Local Media. According to The Citizen (Alberton Record), “At Caxton, every story is written by humans. We use AI only to perform quality checks – never to generate the news.” The Citizen (Alberton Record) also notes the reporter is Desnay Peterson.