'Ghost made me do it'
27 August 2008, 10:29
By Alex Eliseev and Kanina Foss
Morne Harmse - the teenager arrested for the Krugersdorp school slaying - knew what he had done and may be suffering from "personality disorder".
This was the diagnosis of a doctor who examined the 18-year-old in prison on August 25 and reported that Harmse "looked depressed".
"Patient (Harmse) alleges that he had seen a ghost in a field in a farm that he and his parents rented," the doctor's report read.
"He alleges that the ghost instructed him to be a Satanist."
This emerged in court today as the teenager charged with slashing the throat of a fellow pupil with a samurai sword, and wounding three others, emerged at the Krugersdorp magistrates court this morning.
Dr MM Mlefi-Litheko, who conducted the initial medical examinations said in her report: "He (Harmse) looked depressed. His affect was flat. He had a good insight into the incident. He is short in stature."
Harmse has now been sent for mental observation at the Sterkfontein Hospital for a month and is due to return to court on September 26.
It should then be clear whether he will be mentally fit to stand trial and answer to a count of murder and three of attempted murder.
Harmse stepped into the dock this morning at 9.12am, dressed in a bright blue sweatshirt and cargo pants.
His parents, Machiel and Liza Harmse(crt), were seated a metre or two away from him in the first row.
For 13 minutes, while the doctor's report was read into the record and the technicalities were completed, Harmse did not look back at his family once.
He stood slouched over in the dock with his hands clasped in front of him. His face was slightly covered with tufts of light facial hair.
He spoke only twice, each time to answer magistrate Erina Breedt with a soft "Ja".
In the front row, Liza's hands were clasped around her husband's arm while he fidgeted nervously with a set of keys.
Read the full story in the print edition of The Star
Morne Harmse - the teenager arrested for the Krugersdorp school slaying - knew what he had done and may be suffering from "personality disorder".
This was the diagnosis of a doctor who examined the 18-year-old in prison on August 25 and reported that Harmse "looked depressed".
"Patient (Harmse) alleges that he had seen a ghost in a field in a farm that he and his parents rented," the doctor's report read.
"He alleges that the ghost instructed him to be a Satanist."
This emerged in court today as the teenager charged with slashing the throat of a fellow pupil with a samurai sword, and wounding three others, emerged at the Krugersdorp magistrates court this morning.
Dr MM Mlefi-Litheko, who conducted the initial medical examinations said in her report: "He (Harmse) looked depressed. His affect was flat. He had a good insight into the incident. He is short in stature."
Harmse has now been sent for mental observation at the Sterkfontein Hospital for a month and is due to return to court on September 26.
It should then be clear whether he will be mentally fit to stand trial and answer to a count of murder and three of attempted murder.
Harmse stepped into the dock this morning at 9.12am, dressed in a bright blue sweatshirt and cargo pants.
His parents, Machiel and Liza Harmse(crt), were seated a metre or two away from him in the first row.
For 13 minutes, while the doctor's report was read into the record and the technicalities were completed, Harmse did not look back at his family once.
He stood slouched over in the dock with his hands clasped in front of him. His face was slightly covered with tufts of light facial hair.
He spoke only twice, each time to answer magistrate Erina Breedt with a soft "Ja".
In the front row, Liza's hands were clasped around her husband's arm while he fidgeted nervously with a set of keys.
Cape Town
