GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Closing arguments in the murder case in which Timothy Ova (54) stands accused of the murder of two young girls from Albertinia, were concluded in the George Circuit High Court on Thursday 23 November.

Ova is accused of murdering Jacorene Vaaltyn (9) and Sharron Arries (10) in September last year in his house in Janfiskaalstraat in Albertinia.

According to the forensic pathologist's testimony, which was heard earlier, both girls suffocated. 

During the post-mortem, fine sand was found in their airways, noses and mouths, indicating that the children had inhaled the sand.

Ova pleaded not guilty to all five charges against him, including the murder of the children.

The children's bodies were found in Ova's house on Thursday 22 September 2022 after they had been reported missing the previous day. 

Jacorene's body was found in the hole under Ova's bed and Sharon's in a blue plastic drum. Both were bound in sheets.

Ova said the hole was initially meant to be used for sewage, but after he built on to his home, and due to an increase in crime in the area, he used the hole, which was partly inside and partly outside his bungalow, as a booby trap.

In his testimony Ova said he was with his brother on the Thursday afternoon and when he returned home, he saw that the trap had collapsed. He climbed into the hole and began removing the sandbags and pallet when he saw something that looked like an elbow. 

It was apparently Jacorene's body. According to him, he came across Sharon's body while he was removing Jacorene's from the hole. He panicked and put the children on his bed and pulled a sheet over them. Later he proceeded to wrap and tie up each child in a sheet.

In closing

In his closing arguments, Adv Lenro Badenhorst for the prosecution said the fact that Ova did not make alarm or told anyone when he found the girls' bodies, shows that it was a malicious act and not an accident. Instead he wrapped their bodies in sheets and tried to hide them.

In Ova's testimony the court heard that he didn't go to work on the Thursday as he was tired after working 14 consecutive days without leave. 

To his neighbour, who works with him, he had said that he was not going to work for the next couple of days as he had to go to his sister's funeral in Cape Town. 

In court, he admitted that this was a lie and said that he didn't want to go to work as he was not feeling well.

The hole where the kids were found was underneath Ova's bed. Photo: Hugo Redelinghuys

In his final arguments, Badenhorst said he found it strange that a man who is always short of cash would not go to work for two or three days. He said that the excuse of being tired was a fraud and that it demonstrated how easily the accused makes up stories. He said Ova had done the same at previous employment.

Badenhorst said that Ova's actions fit in with a person who had two dead bodies in his cabin and needed time to get rid of them. It was his submission that the girls were hidden in the hole when community members, their parents and police started looking for them at Ova's house.

It was Badenhorst's submission that the deaths of the girls were not an accident. 

The court heard that Ova never made alarm, he didn't report to anyone when the bodies were found and he was on the run for 24 hours after the bodies were found. In that time there was no indication of him telling anyone about the accident.

According to Badenhorst the accused was a poor witness and not credible.

Advocate Flip Theron for the defence said that Ova was remorseful about the accident and that he had had no intention of hiding the bodies. He merely did what he did because he thought his life was in danger. 

He was scared of telling any of the community members that the bodies were in his house.

Throughout the trail Ova stuck to his story that the girls fell into the booby trap that he had set for potential criminals and they suffocated. He denies having anything to do with their deaths.

The case was postponed for judgement on Thursday 30 November where the case was postponed again until early next year as there were certain documents outstanding to complete the argument. 

The case serves before Judge Matthew Francis. Ova is represented by Adv Flip Theron and Adv Lenro Badenhorst is for the state.

The investigating officer in the case is WO Alistair Rezant from the Mossel Bay Domestic Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offenses Unit.

‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’