Steeped in Blood Read online

  Steeped in

  BLOOD

  The Life and Times

  of a FORENSIC

  SCIENTIST

  DAVID KLATZOW

  As told to SYLVIA WALKER

  This book is dedicated to my wife, Shelona, whose hand on the rudder of my life has resulted in a calmer course, and whose assistance throughout my professional life has enabled my success; and to my children, James and Cathryn, who are the light of my life and the joy of my existence.

  CONTENTS

  Foreword

  Preface

  Author’s Note

  Abbreviations

  1 Setting Sail on My voyage of Discovery

  2 A Scholar and a Gentleman

  3 Alcohol Is a Good Friend, Just Don’t Overdo the Friendship

  4 The ‘Hired Guns’ of the Insurance Industry

  5 The Expert Who Never Was

  6 Queensberry Rules

  7 Kinross: A Black Day in South Africa’s History

  8 It’s Sad When the State Goes Bad

  9 A Place Called vlakplaas

  10 The Murder of Ashley Kriel

  11 The Trojan Horse Massacre: Not My Finest Hour

  12 Orders to Eliminate, Not Illuminate

  13 The Devil Is in the Detail

  14 Never Send the Fox to Investigate Crimes in the Hen House

  15 Death, Drugs and Dirty Tricks

  16 Post-Mortems: The Good, the Bad and the Totally Inept

  17 The Mystery of Flight 295, the Helderberg

  18 The Naked Truth

  19 Till Death Us Do Part

  20 Bent Coppers?: The Murder of Inge Lotz

  21 Smoke and Mirrors: The Death of Brett Kebble

  22 The Dynamic Investment That Shrank

  23 Too Good to Be True

  24 Creativity Knows No Bounds

  25 Opinions, Lies and Simple Truth

  26 Condemned to Repeat History

  Appendices

  Bibliography

  Index

  Here’s freedom to him who would speak,

  Here’s freedom to him who would write;

  For there’s none ever feared that the truth should be heard,

  Save him whom the truth would indict!

  – ROBERT BURNS

  Nullius addictus iurare in verba magistri.

  Quo me cunque rapit tempestas, deferor hospes

  I am not bound to swear allegiance to the words of any master. Where the storm carries me, I go ashore and make myself at home.

  – HORACE

  FOREWORD

  Justice often needs scientists to help her resolve vexed questions that arise when the truth has to be established. The mathematician, physicist, pathologist, chemist and other forensic experts in their disciplines are essential witnesses in proving where the truth lies. Often they are able to disprove the exculpatory versions put up by wrongdoers. Their evidence may lead to the conviction or the acquittal of an accused or the upholding or dismissing of a claim by a plaintiff in civil proceedings. Often the cause of an unnatural death has to be established.

  Dr David Klatzow is pre-eminent among our few forensic experts. His academic qualifications and his experience of more than twenty-five years are evident in his numerous appearances as a witness in many cases, and as an advisor to both plaintiffs and defendants.

  David and the late Dr Jonathan Gluckman, the country’s leading pathologist, were readily available to us in the Legal Resources Centre during the apartheid years and to the legal profession as a whole. Their evidence was vital to rebut the fairy tales made up by interrogators who tortured detainees, the policemen who shot dead peaceful demonstrators and the district surgeons who distorted their findings in post-mortem reports in order to avoid responsibility for the unnatural deaths.

  On one occasion, five policemen testified that a teenager was shot with fine birdshot whilst he was part of a riotous assembly. The teenager denied it and maintained that he was standing with a friend at his grandmother’s gate. The shooting had rendered him a quadriplegic. David Klatzow provided expert evidence to disprove the state case, as a result of which the judge disbelieved the policemen. The youth was awarded a high amount of damages, which would not have happened if the expert evidence had not been led.

  Judge H.C. Nicholas had been a teacher of English before he became an advocate and thereafter a judge. He expected a high standard from counsel. After judgment, he paid tribute to David Klatzow not only for the clear and convincing evidence he had given, but also praised his eloquent use of the English language.

  Some cross-examiners tend to undervalue expert evidence. They like to tell of the one crucial question Norman Birkett KC asked in the ‘Burning Car’ case in the 1930s – ‘What is the co-efficient of the expansion of brass?’

  The expert witness conceded that he did not know. This was a devastating answer for the defence. The jury rejected the expert witness’s finding that the fire may not have been a deliberate act, and as a result the accused was convicted and sentenced to death. Birkett was subsequently criticised for having put an unfair question, but the expert witness should have asked Birkett, ‘Can you tell me the precise proportions of the constituents [copper and zinc] before I answer your question, Mr Birkett?’ Birkett was not likely to have known, and the jury’s verdict may have been different.

  In this book, the author relates numerous examples of how conflicts of fact were resolved in the cases in which he testified. In most of these, his opinions were accepted. The judges complimented him on his expertise and his readiness to reconsider his opinion when new information became available during the course of a trial.

  David Klatzow challenged sloppy investigation, drew attention to the lack of care in safeguarding a crime scene and exposed suspected cover-ups of serious crimes.

  His scientific knowledge and investigative talents were used to good effect in investigating the tragic crash of the Helderberg, a case which has never been fully resolved. He courageously challenges the findings of Judge Cecil Margo and accuses the apartheid government of a cover-up.

  The book contains most useful material for all who are interested in the administration of justice. No trial lawyer, senior investigating officer or potential expert witness can afford to ignore Steeped in Blood.

  ADV GEORGE BIZOS SC

  CONSTITUTIONAL LITIGATION UNIT

  LEGAL RESOURCES CENTRE

  PREFACE

  It is difficult to tell one’s life story. All too often, it can be seen as either an offensive and malicious criticism of past enemies, or an attempt to portray one’s life in a more favourable light than is actually the case. My intention in this book is neither. I would like to record a story in stark relief, with the successes unadorned and the failures undiluted. Objectivity is, at best, a difficult thing to achieve. With the excesses and atrocities of the apartheid regime still so fresh in my memory, a difficult task is made doubly so – I ask for indulgence where I stray from the ideal.

  For some years now, I have appeared as a guest on radio shows that have been broadcast locally and nationally. In these talks I have attempted to tell a story of what occurred during a particular period in the political and historical life of South Africa. I have recounted events from my own perspective, as I can claim no wider insight into the greater scheme of past politics in this country than anyone else. I did have the incredibly good fortune, however, of being catapulted into the maelstrom of forensic science practice in 1984, during a very turbulent period of our history. By virtue of the fact that there was no one else, I became involved in some of the most high-profile and interesting cases that have passed through our courts in the past twenty-six years.

  During the radio shows mentioned above, listeners have phoned in to ask me to wr
ite the story of what had happened in those mad times. This is an attempt to place on paper my experiences and the insights that they have brought. The book has been written to entertain and to inform; it makes no claim to academic rigour. It describes some of the cases that involved the criminal activities of the state and it explains the methods that I used to investigate these cases. It also discusses many of the non-political cases on which I have worked over the past two decades, including fire investigations, murders and a wide range of other forensic analyses. In many instances, the criminals who committed the awful deeds I investigated have been brought to justice. In other cases, that process is just beginning.

  I write this not to criticise and denigrate some of those who were involved, but rather to tell the tale as I saw it. I hope that the insights I have gained and my telling of them will, in a small way, inhibit the repetition of the grotesque abuse of state power that I was witness to during the terminal years of apartheid rule.

  I learnt the profession of forensic science as I went along: I was fortunate in starting with a large bag of luck filled to the brim coupled with my bag of experience, which was quite empty. My great good fortune was to get a significant quantity of experience into that bag before the bag of luck emptied.

  It is also my intention in this book to thank those who have guided and taught me along the way. There are many who have given unstintingly of their knowledge and wisdom and, although in some instances their earthly life is run, I must recognise and thank them for their generosity of giving. Without their input, my life would be immeasurably impoverished.

  DAVID KLATZOW

  JULY 2010

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  How does one encapsulate over twenty years’ worth of work and more than 3 000 cases in one concise book? How does one convey the genius and tenacity of a man who knows no boundaries in his quest to find answers, and possesses a unique level of honesty? It is a challenge, to put it mildly.

  Working with David Klatzow has been an honour and a privilege, not only on a professional level, but also on a personal level. To be exposed to his insight, his depth of knowledge on a vast range of subjects and his humility as a human being is something not many people will experience in their lifetime.

  David Klatzow is usually portrayed in the media as unsmiling and unflinching in his views, which are sometimes controversial and often unpopular – an austere man to anyone who does not know him. Yet, over the ten months that we worked on this book, spending many Saturdays and Sundays together, I believe I got to see a very different side to the public persona. He is a man who doesn’t accept no for an answer and who is not scared to challenge the system, but he is also someone who genuinely cares about people and will don his boxing gloves to go the full ten rounds to help those who have been wronged.

  I also witnessed a personal side to David Klatzow: he has nothing but praise for his wife and children, and his home, warm and wonderful, is in effect a farmhouse in the middle of the city. A man with many other talents, he also makes the best marmalade and home-made preserves that I have tasted in a long while!

  This book has been a team effort second to none. Beth Housdon of Zebra Press provided excellent editing skills. Thank you, too, to Ronel Richter-Herbert of Zebra Press for her proofreading and collation skills. And a special thank you to David Klatzow, who demonstrated steadfast commitment and dedication to this project throughout, making my task so much easier. My hope is that, as a team, we have delivered a product that will enlighten, entertain and enthral the reader.

  SYLVIA WALKER

  JULY 2010

  ABBREVIATIONS

  ANC:

  African National Congress

  AWB:

  Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging

  BEE:

  Black Economic Empowerment

  CCB:

  Civil Cooperation Bureau

  COSATU:

  Congress of South African Trade Unions

  CSIR:

  Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

  CVR:

  Cockpit Voice Recorder

  DCA:

  Directorate of Civil Aviation

  MADD:

  Mothers Against Drunken Driving

  MCC:

  Medicines Control Council

  MK:

  Umkhonto we Sizwe

  NPA:

  National Prosecuting Authority

  SAA:

  South African Airways

  SAASCO:

  South African Air Safety Council

  SABS:

  South African Bureau of Standards

  SACC:

  South African Council of Churches

  SADF:

  South African Defence Force

  SAFEX:

  South African Futures Exchange

  SAIA:

  South African Insurance Assurance

  SAMJ:

  South African Medical Journal

  SANBS:

  South African National Blood Transfusion Service

  TRC:

  Truth and Reconciliation

  UDF:

  United Democratic Movement

  UCT:

  University of Cape Town

  WITS:

  University of the Witwatersrand

  CHAPTER 1

  SETTING SAIL ON MY VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY

  ‘To thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.’

  – WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,

  Hamlet, Act I, scene iii, lines 78–80

  There was no doubt in the police investigators’ minds that Fred van der Vyver had murdered Inge Lotz. The crime scene pointed to a murderer whom she knew well – nothing was stolen and there was no sign of forced entry – and Fred knew Inge intimately. What’s more, they had just had an argument. Fred had motive and perhaps some opportunity, but, most importantly, the police investigators believed he was guilty. All that they needed to convict him was the evidence to prove this.

  So how did he get away with it, if, indeed, he did commit the crime? It’s quite simple: each piece of evidence fell horribly short when subjected to scientific scrutiny. There was not a shred of evidence, scientific or other, to link Fred van der Vyver to the death of Inge Lotz. The police investigation was not about finding the truth; rather, it was so clouded by bias that reality blurred into fantasy. The ideals of forensic science were abandoned and replaced by the police’s desperation to gain a conviction at any cost.

  Forensic science is akin to a voyage of discovery: the scientist unravels the clues and sifts through the ashes and dust to find the gems of information that will bring him or her as close as humanly possible to the true state of events. That is the crux of the work of a forensic scientist.

  In each and every case, there are many external influences at work. One of the most dangerous is personal bias, and this is where the investigation into the murder of Inge Lotz fell so terribly short. The critical difference between a scientist and a layperson is the ability to observe and analyse information in a completely unbiased way.

  This lesson was brought home to me vividly in my very first chemistry practical at the University of the Witwatersrand. As first-years, we all had a little black one-rand lab book in which to record our research and results, and we arrived fresh-faced and eager, ready to conduct our first scientific experiment. With our twenty coins of the same denomination in hand, which we had been told to bring on that first day, we were sent off to the weighing room.

  The task was to weigh each coin individually and note down its mass to the fourth decimal point. We then had to calculate the coins’ mean and standard deviation, which is a measure of the range or dispersion of weights measured for the set of coins. No two coins ever had an identical mass, due to weighing or observation errors, or wear and tear from use.

  We were then instructed to reweigh each coin and repeat the entire exercise. I discovered that the standard deviation on the second set of weighing was m
uch smaller the second time around. Why? It was simple: the second time I weighed the coins, I subconsciously knew what the average weight was, and this influenced my later measurements. Thus, on the inaugural day of my scientific career, I was taught a fundamental lesson: as a scientist, you have to get rid of your bias. Subjective influences, knowledge you already have and misinformation can all lead to the wrong conclusions.

  It is not for a scientist to pre-empt results or to seek particular findings. The scientist’s task is purely to find out what nature and the laws of science have put there to be found. If the facts do not support a theory, a good scientist will discard the theory with alacrity and look past the external influences until he or she gets as close to the truth as possible. That is the craft of science, and particularly of forensic science.

  External influences play a huge role not only in science, but also in the development of a child, and I was very fortunate to have some of the best influences in my early years. These moulding elements inspired my interest in and keen passion for the world of science.

  Let me start at the beginning. My father’s family emigrated from Russia at the turn of the century, fleeing the persecution of Jews at the time. My paternal grandparents moved independently from St Petersburg to England, where they met and married. Shortly after this, they set sail for South Africa in search of a golden future. They arrived in Durban just after the Boer War, and my father was born in Newcastle, in Natal, in November 1903. The family later moved to Bloemfontein, where they formed part of a thriving Jewish community.

  I know very little about my paternal grandparents, except their names – Jonas and Leah. My father did not mention them once in all the years I was growing up, and we never had any contact with them. My father had married out of his faith – my mother was Anglican – and I suspect he was disowned for this decision. Perhaps my grandfather was never even told about the marriage.