Bloemfontein - The Danish man found with 21 pieces of female genitalia stashed in a fridge at his home in Bloemfontein, has also been implicated in the murder of his wife, who was gunned down only weeks after his arrest. Peter Frederiksen on Thursday took to the witness stand in his bail application in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court.
He has been in custody since his arrest on September 17, following the gruesome find, and has since also been charged with conspiracy to commit murder following the death of his wife, Anna Matseliso Molise, 28, who was gunned down during a suspected “hit” on October 20.
Frederiksen is also facing several other charges, including assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH), the possession and manufacturing of child pornography, the removal of human tissue in contravention of the Health Act and bigamy.
He on Thursday testified during his schedule five bail application. His testimony was, according to the State, riddled with “inconsistencies and contradictions”.
Frederiksen became visibly agitated by the State’s gruelling cross-examination and even started to cry when talking about how his incarceration had affected him. As he told the court that both his health and two firearm businesses had suffered severely since his incarceration . . . “everything in my life changed when I heard about my wife’s death”.
However, the State alleges that Frederiksen used a cell phone while in custody to contact and threaten witnesses, resulting in them now being in protective custody, as well as masterminding the murder of his wife from inside prison.
She apparently survived one “botched” attempt on her life, before she was shot four times outside her home in Maseru on October 20 and later died from her wounds in hospital.
When asked about the cellphone apparently found on his person, Frederiksen denied owning the phone, saying that it was found on his bed in a shared cell and that anybody could have placed it there.
“Anyone can have a cellphone in prison if they want one. Although I don’t know how they do it,” Frederiksen said.
While State Prosecutor Amanda Bester put it to Frederiksen that he had his wife killed because “she knew too much” he denied this, saying that she (Bester) “had no evidence regarding her death”.
The couple have two young boys together.
It also came to light that Frederiksen owned firearm stock to the value of “between R1.5 million and R2 million”. His two firearm businesses, Impala Arms in Bloemfontein and Impala Arms in Lesotho, have turnovers of roughly R100 000 and R300 000 per month respectively, Frederiksen testified.
Another point Bester grilled Frederiksen on was the issue of him not serving a six-month sentence in Denmark, which he received for being in possession of unlicensed firearms in 2010.
Frederiksen said the sentence had been “postponed” and that it was arranged that he could serve the sentence “at a later stage when he returns to Denmark”.
However, when Magistrate Marlene Marais later enquired this, Frederiksen contradicted himself and admitted that he was told by Danish police that he would be arrested if he returned to Denmark and that there was no agreement to postpone the sentence.
Frederiksen said that he “could not comment” after being asked by the State why his legal representative, Advocate Nthama Litaabe, had previously put it to the court that the female genitalia collection found in his possession belonged to his late wife.
The State concluded Thursday’s proceeding by pointing out that if Frederiksen evaded a six-month sentence in Denmark, what would prevent him from doing the same in this case if he was granted bail, especially as he faced “several years imprisonment if found guilty”.
However, he earlier submitted that he would “have no reason not to come to court” during his trial and “would not be so stupid as to contact anyone involved” if granted bail. The State and the defence are expected to make final submissions on Friday.
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