A father suspected of murdering his three-year-old twins in Hout Bay last week was expected to appear in court yesterday.
However, the matter had to be postponed after the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court heard the man was still recovering in hospital from stab wounds.
The matter was then heard in absentia, and the suspect, Mario Caesar Deus Yela, 48, a Spanish national, was charged with two counts of murder and car theft.
According to police sources, Yela tried to commit suicide while in custody — initial reports alleged that his ex wife had knifed him during the attack.
Yela’s lawyer, Advocate William Booth, informed the court his client could not be in attendance as he was still recovering in hospital.
“The accused is under medical care at the Victoria Hospital under police guard. I visited him in hospital and he has fairly serious injuries,” said Booth.
“He was transferred to Groote Schuur Hospital for some tests over the weekend and was sent back. He has sustained serious injuries to his abdomen.”
The case was postponed to April 19.
TRAGEDY: Yela's ex Julia Engelhorn's car was stolen after children were killed. CREDIT: Facebook
Eric Ntabazalila of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirms Yela was not well enough to be at court, but that he had been charged: “Please note that Mario Caesar Deus Yela, charged with the murders of his twin children and theft of his (ex) wife’s vehicle, did not appear at the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court (yesterday) morning as he is still in hospital.
“Only his lawyer, William Booth, appeared in court and the matter has been postponed to April 19, 2017 for him to appear.”
It’s believed Yela, a dentist who lives in Spain, was in South Africa to see his three young children — the twins, Maximo and Octavia, and a seven-year-old son — and that he was due to fly back home last Thursday.
Yela and the children’s mother, Julia Engelhorn, were divorced in 2015 and the couple had previously lived in Spain.
She relocated to South Africa in 2012.
Police were called to Yela’s holiday apartment at Prince Road, Hout Bay, on Thursday after Engelhorn found their lifeless bodies.
Her attorney, Juan Smuts, said Yela dropped the older son at school that morning. The twins were with him.
As far as he knew, the parents had not argued.
Cops have yet to reveal how the twins were killed, but it is believed they were stabbed.
Yela had allegedly fled the scene in Engelhorn's car. Police tracked down her car to Wynberg, where Yela was arrested.