Vicki Terblanche (Photo: Facebook / Lala Fourie)
Dylan Cullis, one of the men on trial for the murder of Vicky Terblanche van Gqeberha, was effectively sentenced to 18 years in prison for his part in the murder.
Cullis, a friend of Terblanche’s boyfriend, Reinhardt Leach, was found guilty in the High Court in Gqeberha on Wednesday of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and defeating the law after he entered into a plea agreement with the state.
Cullis will now testify as a state witness in the murder trial of Leach and Arnold Terblanche, Vicky’s estranged husband.
Luxolo Tyali, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Eastern Cape, says Cullis was sentenced to 18 years in prison for murder, ten years for aggravated robbery and three years for defeating the law.
The sentences will be served concurrently.
Dylan Cullis (Photo: Twitter)
Rhewal used to report Leach and Cullis were arrested in 2021 shortly after Vicki’s body was found in a shallow grave in an open field in Greenbushes on 23 October of that year. Terblanche was arrested more than three weeks later at his home in Mill Park, Gqeberha.
Leach was in a relationship with Vicki at the time of the murder and lived with her.
It is alleged that Vicki was drugged with a schedule 6 medication on October 18 before she was suffocated with a pillow. She was also robbed of several items, including bank cards, jewelery and a mobile phone.
Drugs and other narcotics were apparently “planted” at her home in Newton Park, where all the alleged crimes took place. It is claimed that the drugs were deliberately placed there to give the impression that Vicki had taken an overdose of drugs.
Cullis’ co-accused will appear in court again next month.
