A private jet and proposal in Paris, a stag party in Las Vegas, a lavish wedding in Mumbai, a luxury honeymoon in Cape Town and liaisons with a male escort from Munich. The millionaire lifestyle of British businessman Shrien Dewani was revealed in uncomfortable detail on Monday at the opening of his long-awaited trial for the murder of his wife.
The 34-year-old, who had long resisted extradition to South Africa, citing depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, took his seat in the dock at the high court in Cape Town more than four years after his honeymoon with Anni Dewani ended in her death. For the most part he was composed and businesslike, but there were glimpses of tears and brittleness.
Dewani pleaded not guilty to orchestrating the killing. “My whole world came crashing down,” he said. He revealed he was bisexual and had previously hired male sex workers. His sexuality is likely to be presented by prosecutors as the motive for wanting his wife dead.
Later there were gasps in the ornate, wood-lined courtroom when a police video showed his wife’s bloodstained body lying in the back of an abandoned car, still wearing her black evening dress and high heels, her hair blowing softly in the breeze.
Dewani, from Bristol, is accused of hiring three hitmen to stage a carjacking in a township and kill his wife, a 28-year-old engineer, in November 2010. On Monday he was formally charged with murder, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping and defeating the ends of justice.
Wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie, Dewani stood in the dock and, in a calm voice, told high court judge Jeanette Traverso: “I plead not guilty to all five counts, my lady.”
With members of both families sitting on opposite sides of the court, the care home owner’s defence counsel, Francois van Zyl, then read out a 37-page plea explanation. It addressed speculation about Dewani’s sexuality in media reports before the trial, including allegations by Leopold Leisser, who styles himself “The German Master”.
“I have had sexual interaction with both males and females,” the statement said. “I consider myself to be bisexual. My sexual interactions with males were mostly physical experiences or email chats with people I met online or in clubs, including prostitutes such as Leopold Leisser.
“My sexual interactions with females were usually during the course of a relationship which consisted of other activities and emotional attachment.”
Dewani said he met Anni Hindocha, from Sweden, in May 2009 after a mutual friend gave him her contact details. “On our first date I was instantly physically attracted to her, loved her bubbly personality and sensed that there was mutual chemistry,” he said in the statement. “We fell in love with each other. We were both ambitious and shared a common view of the future. We were both headstrong and often argued with each other.”
He said he had abnormally low levels of hormones, rendering his chances of having children slim, which he discussed with Hindocha, and decided to undergo testosterone replacement therapy despite the possible side-effects.
After a few turbulent months in the relationship, he hired a private jet to take them to Paris, where he formally proposed marriage in June 2010. After his stag party in Las Vegas, they were married in a lavish £200,000 ceremony in India and went to South Africa on honeymoon.
Prosecutors contend that Dewani then conspired with Cape Town residents Zola Tongo, Mziwamadoda Qwabe and Xolile Mngeni to kill his wife. The three men are already serving jail terms in connection with the murder.
According to Dewani’s plea, on arrival in Cape Town he met a group of taxi drivers including Tongo, who told him he was also an “executive tour guide”. Dewani sought his help in exchanging money to local currency and organising a private helicopter flight for 15,000 rand (£830) in cash. On the night of Saturday 13 November, the couple went for dinner then got in Tongo’s car without a plan of what to do next, Dewani claimed. “I recall there was some discussion about what Africa is really like.”
They drove and turned off the motorway. “The next thing I remember was banging noises coming from the front and the right-hand side of the car. There was a lot of shouting in a language I did not understand. The next thing I recall is somebody next to me who told me to lie down. This person had a gun in his hand; I cannot recall which hand.
“He was waving the gun in the air. He shouted: ‘Look down! Lie down!’ We were both terrified and we immediately complied with his demands. I was lying half on top of Anni. Another person was behind the steering wheel. I do not know where Tongo was at that stage.”
Dewani said he pleaded with the attackers to let him and his wife go, but they demanded Dewani’s phone. “He searched me and found my phone in my trousers. He got angry. He placed the gun against my left ear and said words to the effect that I should not lie to him or he would shoot me. I heard a clicking noise from the gun which scared me even more. I have never been close to a real gun before.”
The journey continued on to a small road and his wife was screaming, according to Dewani’s account. “The next thing I remember, they were both shouting at me to get out. I pleaded with them to let us both go. They refused. The driver said they would leave Anni at the police station. I insisted that we both have to stay together. They became angrier and shouted at me to get out. The one with the gun put it to my head again and threatened to shoot me if I did not get out.
“I tried to open the door but it would not open. I recall the window opening. I recall hitting the ground and the car speeding away. The last thing I had said to Anni was to be quiet and not to say anything. I said this to her in Gujarati.”
Dewani said he tried to raise the alarm by knocking on doors in the township, Gugulethu, until two police officers were called to the scene and he was taken to a police station. Eventually he received a call from his brother saying his wife had been found shot dead. “At that point my whole world came crashing down. The next I recall is that the doctor gave me pills in my bedroom.”
Dewani, who is being held at a mental health institution, said he had suffered “flashbacks, nightmares and anxiety attacks” since the carjacking. In court he appeared unusually sensitive to noise, twitching on occasion, and wore headphones to amplify whoever was addressing the court.
A defence source said his condition had improved hugely but he remained easily startled by noises such as motorbike engines.
Dewani bowed his head as forensic officers were seen opening the door of the abandoned taxi to reveal a bloodstained woman dead on the back seat. As the camera panned to the other side of the car, the court saw blood covering her ankles and feet. Anni Dewani’s parents, Vinod and Nilam Hindocha, left the court to avoid seeing the images.
The trial then began hearing evidence from the first witness, pathologist Dr Janette Verster.
A postmortem examination found gunshot wounds to Anni Dewani’s left hand and her neck, which caused massive blood loss. “In a few heartbeats … the deceased would have bled out,” Verster said. The fatal shot was delivered at close range, with a suggestion she may have been grabbing on to “someone or something” at the time she died.
The Hindocha family, who have travelled from Sweden, wore ribbons and a smiling picture of their loved one pinned to their jackets. The African National Congress women’s league, prominent during the trial of Oscar Pistorius for the murder of Reeva Steenkamp, were again conspicuous in the public gallery. Dewani’s mother, Snila, father, Prakesh, and brother Preyen were also in court.
The trial was adjourned until Wednesday because Traverso has a prior commitment on Tuesday.
Source:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/06/shrien-dewani-first-day-murder-trial-wife-anni
