Freddie Stapelberg, the boyfriend of the late Nadine Terblanche, who was at the forefront of seeking justice for her and her son, Ruandré’s murders, made his first court appearance as an accused killer, on Monday.
Watch: Freddie Stapelberg appears in court for Nadine Terblanche murder
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A stoic Stapelberg stood stiff on the docks of the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, where he was formally charged with killing his lover and her son.
The appearance, his first of many, was brief. Stapelberg will remain in custody until his next appearance, where he is expected to apply for bail.
Stapelberg was arrested on Friday, 12 January 2024, for his alleged involvement in the deaths of his partner Terblanche and nine-year-old Ruandré.
A Zimbabwean national, Pardon Danhire, who worked for Nadine for many years was previously accused of the Langenhoven Street double murder.
The 37-year-old foreigner, at his most recent court appearance, abandoned his right to apply for bail and sought Legal Aid representation to fight the case.
From what we understand, the gardener maintains he was framed by Stapelberg.
Danhire was arrested on the evening of Monday, 27 November 2024, the night Terblanche and Ruandré were killed. At the time, Alberton authorities leaned into Stapelberg’s version of events, which placed the gardener as the double murderer.
According to police, at the time, Terblanche’s boyfriend had stumbled into the Langenhoven Street property moments after Danhire had allegedly strangled Nadine and Ruandré in the bedroom, and wielding an axe, he had lunged at Stapelberg.
However, the boyfriend allegedly overpowered the gardener and escaped the property to alert security.
We now know that police are no longer aligned with that version of events.
Stapelberg’s arrest sent shockwaves across the Randhart community. Nadine’s boyfriend was at the forefront of a campaign to seek justice for the murders of his girlfriend and Ruandré.
He went as far as wearing t-shirts printed with the victim’s faces to Danhire’s court appearance, standing in solidarity with Terblanche’s family.
On social media, he poured his heart out about losing Nadine and Ruandré, whom he took in as his son.
“I never intended to come to the day of grief and a heart being torn into pieces, my heart ripped out and stomped to say goodbye. The fact that you and Seuna were taken away from us leaves a big void in us. All our future plans are so unfair until newly declared. The considerable love for you will always stay with us. Me, Niane, Adeline, Jessica and Zelrie together with all our family and friends carry your love and smiles with us. I always believed that everything happens for a reason, until the day you and seuna left us, where I have to try to understand for the rest of my life,” he wrote in one Facebook post.
However, all along, authorities were tracing Stapelberg’s every move and poking holes in his story.
Careful not to reveal too much about the investigation, it seems the police are convinced Stapelberg was the one who strangled his girlfriend and Ruandré.