A a South African court has heard how Vicki Terblanche was found dead in a shallow grave after she planned to kill her husband with her new lover – but the two men ended up murdering her instead
A woman’s estranged husband and her new boyfriend have gone on trial for conspiring to murder her.
Sports teacher Vicki Terblanche was found dead in a shallow grave after she was reported missing by her new lover Reinhardt Leach. Shortly after the gruesome discovery of the 42-year-old’s body in October 2021, Leach was arrested for her murder. A short while later Vicki’s estranged husband, Arnold Terblanche, was also arrested.
Leach pleaded guilty to murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of drugs, while Terblanche has claimed his innocence since he was arrested, the pair have now gone on trial together.
A third defendant, Dylan Cullis, was given an 18-year prison sentence in 2023 and he turned state witness, after confessing to his role in the mother-of-one’s murder. The court has now heard how Leach and Vicki initially planned to kill Arnold but the two men then decided to kill her instead, according to local media reports.
The court also heard how Vicki told Leach that she planned to kill her estranged husband, believing that she would profit more from inheriting from him rather than divorcing. But Leach claims that their relationship soured due to her drug addiction and when the two men met, Leach told Terblanche about his estranged wife’s plan to kill him.
They then allegedly decided to cooperate and orchestrate the woman’s death, in South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. Leach told the court that the plan was to drug the victim.
He said that he spiked her drink and had sex with her but then also ended up falling asleep because he had also drunk some of the spiked drink. He claimed that he did not kill Vicki, and says that Cullis suffocated her with a pillow on Arnold’s instructions.
The defendant said that the victim’s body was then stuffed into the boot of a BMW while the men looked for a place to dump it. They all went go-karting before eventually getting rid of the corpse.
The trial is ongoing.
