Medical expert key in beheading trial
Cape Town - Vital evidence by a medical expert is expected to be delivered by a key witness in the trial against Corrine Jackson who is accused of attempting to behead her estranged 18-year-old girlfriend nearly eight years ago.
The mammoth trial resumed last week with a list of witnesses which included the victim, Nadine Esterhuizen’s sister, Rhayader Esterhuizen, Rhayader’s boyfriend, Laurenzo Adams and her brother and others, taking the stand in the State’s case against Jackson.
The court heard the matter would now resume between May 7 and May 8, to allow the State time to deliver a key medical witness.
Further details of what is expected may not be stated in the public domain until the expert witness takes the stand.
Jackson is currently out on bail and is also expected to bring her list of witnesses once the State closes its case and has appointed a new legal attorney.
The State is set to prove Jackson tried to behead Esterhuizen by using a knife.
Esterhuizen was found in a pool of blood inside a Colorado Park home in Mitchell’s Plain in September 2017, with her body riddled with over 20 stab wounds and her hair cut.
Last week, Adams continued his testimony on the stand as a key witness who found the crime scene and Jackson allegedly hiding inside the bathroom, with a dagger and a knife.
During her bail application shortly after her arrest in 2017, Jackson claimed she had acted in self-defence but the State said via their investigating officer that the wounds were self-inflicted and she was placed on suicide watch.
The case is being monitored by Sakienah Daniels and Lynn Philipps of the Cape Flats Safety Forum who previously said the case had to be finalised this year as it had reached its eight year mark and called for a hefty sentence.
Jackson is also facing a charge of contravening a protection order relating to an incident which allegedly took place at Strandfontein Pavilion prior to the murder.
Esterhuizen sustained a cracked skull and her cellphone was flung into the ocean during the beach incident in 2017.
A case was also opened against Jackson in 2022 by a female victim who claimed she allegedly assaulted her in Vredehoek.
She was arrested in 2023 for an incident which allegedly took place in Bo Kaap, involving a male victim.
Adams also took the stand a year ago where he detailed how he had knocked on the room and screamed Nadine’s name as she was home at the time.
He said he found the bathroom window open and saw a door closing, assuming the person inside was going to open the front door.
He explained that the door remained locked and eventually he had asked another tenant to provide him with spare keys and that he was greeted by the horrific scene which showed blood stains from the lounge to the kitchen and that Nadine was covered in blood. He then found Jackson inside the bathroom which had been locked.