Anika inquest: Identity of ‘Vampire’ leaked

The inquest into slain Anika Smit was brought to a halt after it came to light that "Vampire's" identity had been leaked on Facebook.

Pretoria - The inquest into slain teen Anika Smit was brought to a halt after details came to light that “Vampire’s” identity had been leaked on social media, despite an order barring the public from revealing who the witnesses are.

Damien Treeby’s picture was taken while he was testifying on Thursday and posted on Facebook by a member of the public who also dubbed him a murderer.

Treeby has been known as “Vampire”, a name he used on the messaging app Mxit throughout the inquest.

This compelled magistrate Pierre Wessels to lift the order and allow Treeby to be named.

However, witnesses who testified earlier in the inquest may not be named.

Wessels expressed his disappointment that his promise to conceal and protect Treeby’s identity was broken.

“It’s disappointing because this was a court order that was violated, not just a promise that was broken,” Wessels said.

Treeby is not suspected of murdering Smit, but is being questioned in the inquest by the State in an attempt to solve the riddle of who might have been behind Smit’s murder.

The teen was found murdered in her father’s Theresa Park home in 2010.

Her throat was slit, she had been raped, and her hands were chopped off. The hands have yet to be found.

State prosecutor Tania Carstens has ensured that the witnesses’ identities are protected since the inquest began.

In addition, Carstens applied for the proceedings to be held in camera, much to the annoyance of attorney Anton Van Staden, who objected.

Carstens said they would be investigating how Treeby’s identity had been compromised.

Van Staden is representing Nico Venter, Smit’s then boyfriend.

He was initially arrested for the teen’s murder but charges against him were subsequently withdrawn after police failed to link him to the murder.

Van Staden said his client’s identity was splashed across the media when he was arrested.

The inquest was postponed to October 8 to allow Treeby enough time to get a legal representative.

Treeby told the court that he had read some of the comments posted on Facebook about him and did not wish to watch over his shoulder whenever he walked down the road.

Wessels instructed him to contact Carstens if he felt his life was in danger.

Previously, Treeby had given a chilling testimony of how he drank blood at a vampiric party and had an interest in Satanism.

He said he affiliated himself with a group of boys who were also interested in Satanism.

One of them had said he was a Satanist.

tankiso.makhetha@inl.co.za

Pretoria News