Wife won’t accept gay sex claim in doctor’s murder

As arguments concluded in the Dr Louis Heyns murder case on Wednesday, his family refuse to believe he solicited sex from his self-confessed killer.

Marthinus van der Walt, 35, who admitted to killing the well known paediatrician in May 2013, has claimed that the doctor approached him and his brother Sarel, 42, in an area said to be a gay cruising spot in Strand, outside of Cape Town.

According to News 24, he told the Western Cape High Court that Heyns, 59, requested sex from him in exchange for money. He agreed, while his brother waited nearby.

Van der Walt said he is bisexual and had met other men in the area before, but that this was the first time he’d be taking money for sex.

He claims, however, that he flew into a violent rage when Heyns felt his flaccid penis through his pants and said: “You expect me to pay you but your penis won’t even get hard”.

He admitted to attacking and beating Heyns to death in response, but insisted he didn’t intend to kill him and was high on drugs and alcohol at the time.

“I was just angry. I can’t say how long I hit him for… that is when I realised I had seriously injured him. It was wrong. It was not my intention to do something like that,” Van der Walt said.

He took R50 out of Heyns’ pocket, buried him in a shallow grave, and fled the scene with his brother in the doctor’s car.

Heyns’ family have refused to accept this version of events, believing that he was hijacked and robbed by Van der Walt.

The doctor’s wife of 33 years, Dalene Heyns, told the court that her husband had never shown any sexual interest in men.

“I am convinced the allegation is unlikely. I believe this with my whole heart,” she said.

Judge Andre le Grange will announce his verdict on Tuesday next week.