US forensics expert and a key player in the Fred van der Vyver trial, Pat Wertheim, was asked to deliver a paper titles “The Fred van der Vyver story” at a conference of the International Association for Identification on August 21, in Louisville, Kentucky. According to the associations website, the paper deals with how “evidence was fabricated to seal the fate of an innocent person”.

As you know Fred was not only declared ‘Not guilty’ but also ‘innocent’ by the judge who went on to say that the police investigation was “incompetent”, “unreliable” and “dishonest”.

Now the police are attempting stop prevent Pat from presenting his paper to the conference. This was confirmed by National police spokesman Director Sally de Beer who said that a senior officer in the police’s criminal records centre had written to the association to inform them that Fred had instituted a R46-million civil case against the ministry of safety and security. She went on to say that it had not been proven that any police official had fabricated any evidence.

I can see why the police would be embarrassed by the revelations of their incompetence and shoddy work at this conference, but they have no-one to blame but themselves. To date we have seen no fallout from this case, so one doesn’t have to wonder for very long why they wish to sweep this under the carpet!

Wertheim has often commented that he is surprised that the police have not acted in any way against the officers involved and that they should reimburse Fred and his family. His strongest opinion which is echoed by many people is that the police should at least re-open the investigation, which up until now they have not.

Everyone should be asking these kinds of questions and demanding not only answers but also action. If the courts found Fred not guilty, then the police have a duty to re-open the investigation - preferably with new investigators! Why has this not been done? Do they still believe that Fred is guilty - even after the court case?

Why has no action been taken against the original investigators who botched things up so much? During the trial we heard of the gross incompetence of some of these officers, yet there has been no follow-up from either the police themselves or from the Ministry of Safety and Security!

Today I received this email along with a copy of the press release below:

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

We would appreciate it if you would publish the enclosed press statement on behalf of our client in your publications as soon as possible.

We thank you in anticipation.

BRIAN LOWE
LOWE & PETERSEN ATTORNEYS
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

LOTZ & LOTZ v FB van der Vyver

We have been requested by our client, Mr Fred van der Vyver, to issue the following statement:

For the past few months, a campaign has been waged in the press against our client Mr. Fred van der Vyver in which it has been stated and reported widely that Porfessor and Mrs. Lotz, the parents of Inge Lotz, have found “new evidence” against Mr van der Vyver. Most of these statements have been made by a Ms Dani Cohen as spokesperson for Prof & Mrs Lotz.

Among the statements so made is the allegation that “new, crucial evidence” has been found against Mr van der Vyver to “establish he murdered Inge”.

As a consequence of these press statements Counsel for Mr van der Vyver requested further particulars for trial to the claim instituted against him by Prof. and Mrs. Lotz, referring specifically to Ms Cohen’s statements and requesting the plaintiffs to set out fully what new material fact or facts plaintiffs will rely upon in their action.

In response to such request, the legal representatives of Prof. and Mrs. Lotz’s have replied as follows:

“There are no new material facts upon which the plaintiffs intend to rely.”

Both the request for particulars and the reply thereto are filed at Court.

A letter reserving Mr van der Vyver’s rights against Prof and Mrs Lotz, and Ms Cohen, in regard to the above defamatory statements and the damage that Mr van der Vyver is suffering, will soon be served on the attorneys of Prof and Mrs Lotz.

Despite the fact that the courts found Fred van der Vyver not only ‘not guilty’ but also ‘innocent’ of murdering Inge Lotz, the parents of Inge are now suing Fred for approximately R4 million each!

Some people have claimed that this is similar to the OJ Simpson trial but there are big differences. In the OJ trial, there was always an element of doubt as to the juries findings. These doubts were based on race issues (evident in juror statements after the trial), evidence that was not presented and even some doubt concerning evidence that was presented in the trial. In the van der Vyver case, the case was far more compelling that he was in fact innocent of the charges.

Personally I think that suing after the case has been decided is wrong and really should not be allowed. I am talking about when a ‘not guilty’ verdict is reached only. A civil court could reach a different decision to a criminal court, because while the latter had to find a suspect guilty “beyond reasonable doubt”, a civil court could find a suspect guilty on “the balance of probabilities”. Doesnt this fly in the face of what a criminal trial is all about?

We all acknowledge the pain and suffering caused to victims families and we whole heartedly sympethise with them. However a civil trial, after the criminal trial has found a defendant ‘not guilty’, somehow suggests spite on the part of the victims family. It also hows that they are not satisfied with the result of the criminal trial, which of course in this case is to be expected. One wonders why they do not rather sue the police for running a shoddy investigation.

I do not think that the Lotz’s reached this decision on their own. As Dup de Bruyn, Fred’s advocate said, he knows who is behind this action and what their motive is. I feel that the Lotz family are now being used by other individuals in order to further their own agenda.

My personal feeling is that the Stellenbosch police are possibly behind it. If the civil action works in the Lotz’s favour, then they will be ‘redeemed’ in the eyes of not only the family but the community at large. This could be just a mere case of disaster management strategy. They can gain credibility because of it - a case of ‘the fish didn’t really get away’. This would somehow justify their investigation.

It would be very interesting if this motive did come out in the court case, because if it is the cops, they will have an aweful amount to lose on this gamble!

It has been reported that the police are going to charge Werner Carolus with obstructing and defeating the ends of justice. Apparently a docket was registered in Stellenbosch last week which paves the way for the charges.

During the trial Carolus had confessed to police that he had burgled Inge’s flat and that he witnessed his friends killing her.

Daryl Els and Christiaan Botha, the private investigators briefly hired by the Van der Vyver family had decided to investigate the matter further, with Els interviewing Carolus in prison where he got a confession and identification of the others allegedly involved.

Botha said that he had sent his findings to national Police Commissioner, Jackie Selebi’s office and also to the Independent Complaints Commission and that he hoped that they would investigate it further.

So now we have another standoff between the police and the former van der Vyver team. Who will ultimately prevail? Will we finally discover the truth?

I don’t have a lot of faith in the Selebi angle. Selebi is currently a tad too concerned with his own leal problems to bother about this case. Maybe we will see some result from the IDC.

Dr Chris Landman of the State President’s Commission for the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities (CRL Commission) told the Cape Argus that the government needs to review the Lotz murder case and investigate the conduct of the State investigators.

He further said that if the investigation revealed that the investigators have acted irregularly, then all their earlier cases need to be reviewed in case other innocent people have been jailed.

I totally agree with Dr Landman. Most of us have known for a very long time that in many cases the police and/or prosecution are corrupt and mishandle cases. My hope is that other people will stand up and condemn the actions of the State and police in the handling of this case in particular and in the way they handle cases generally.