Convicted killer Jonathan Heyns told the family of murdered five-year-old Kaithlyn Wilson that he did not have the guts to tell them how he had killed the little girl.
But he admitted he murdered her despite “her innocence and loving her like a daughter”.
Heyns, 35, took the stand at the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday during mitigation and aggravation of sentencing where he begged Kaithlyn’s mother for
forgiveness.
He claimed his 13-month relationship with Yvonne Wilson had brought calm to his life, and that he liked Kaithlyn from the moment he met her and often looked after her while her mom went to work.
The couple met in 2016 in
Riebeek Wes when he was released from jail.
Heyns’ criminal record shows that he had been convicted for housebreaking, assault, and indecent assault, relating to the rape of male inmates.
Last week, he was found guilty of kidnapping and killing Kaithlyn on 30 July 2017.
His friend and co-accused, August Pedro-Lee Swartz, 21, was acquitted on the charge of kidnapping but found guilty of accessory after the fact, because he helped Heyns hide the child’s body under a thorn bush.
According to court papers, Heyns, had on two separate occasions assaulted and insulted Yvonne, and she broke up with him.
She said he had threatened to kill her and her daughter.
On the day her child was killed, Yvonne had left Kaithlyn with the child’s grandmother.
The child was last seen entering Heyns’ home where he had fixed her bicycle.
Co-accused August Pedro-Lee Swartz (left) and child killer Jonathan Heyns, 35 (right)
Witnesses told cops that they saw the two suspects pushing a wheelbarrow with a bin on it.
After a few hours of interrogation, Swartz admitted Kaithlyn was dead and showed cops where they had buried her.
The child suffocated to death after a cloth was stuffed in her mouth and black insulation tape was wrapped around her nose and eyes.
Speaking in Afrikaans, an
emotional Heyns, who has a son, told the court the little girl was his “best friend”.
“Kaithlyn was a good girl and in the last four months, she became my best friend.
“I am sorry for causing her death, she was innocent.”
But State prosecutor, Nadia Ajam, was unmoved and said Heyns killed Kaithlyn to spite Yvonne.
“He wanted to rape Yvonne’s soul. The accused has a toxic male ego. This is a case of ‘I will break you in the worst way possible if you don’t do as I say’,” Ajam said.
She asked Heyns to give the family closure by telling them about Kaithlyn’s final moments.
He said she brushed his hair, said she loved him and gave him a photo of herself.
He then choked up, saying: “I am sorry, I do not have the guts to say what happened.”
Sentencing is on 17 September.