Publisher Robin McGregor killed Aug 12 2008 - trial

  Socks at Tulbagh crime-scene had blood of accused killer Cecil Thomas and of victim Robin McGregor – court evidence  November 9 2010  Western Cape High Court, South Africa. – The bloody imprint of a foot covered with a sock contained blood traces of murdered publisher of “Who Owns Whom” Robin McGregor and also of Cecil Thomas, the man on trial for stabbing him to death in Tulbagh on August 12 2008.      Robin Mc Gregor was stabbed to death at his Tulbagh home on Tuesday, August 12 2008. He was the publisher of “Who Owns Whom”, a respected financial handbook which lists the top-50 directors by value of their JSE shareholdings.   --------------------------------                      The SAPS found him murdered when they were tracing the owner of a stolen car. He had stab wounds to his head, chest and stomach. Durban-born McGregor founded ‘Who Owns Whom’ which, besides book publishing also dealt with specialist business research focused on South African industry and topics such as ownership and investment. Up until his murder, he remained a director and shareholder of the prestigious publication and was active in its production and related businesses.   Originally three people were arrested, but Thomas now is the only one on trial for the murder and related charges such as robbery with aggravated circumstances and the illegal possession of a firearm. Thomas’ DNA has now been linked to several items of clothing that have proved crucial to the case, writes Kassiem. “Thomas was wearing the socks, along with a pair of blood-stained jeans, at the time he was arrested. The police confiscated and examined them. “  Thomas’s defence Paul van Zyl earlier told Judge Nathan Erasmus that Thomas had been forced to serve as the fall guy for members of the 28s gang. It was claimed “one of the gang forced him to strip and put on the bloody clothes”. Judge Erasmus  ordered that blood samples for DNA testing be taken from Thomas.      â€œMr Thomas’s blood was mixed with Mr McGregor’s blood on the sock. We could not find anyone else’s DNA on it,” said Ulrich Koenze from the Biology Unit of the Forensic Science Laboratory yesterday. “We also did an investigation on the high friction areas of the sock. We extracted sweat from it. It was also that of Mr Thomas.” Koenze told the court that they had also tested Thomas’s blood-stained jeans.  The blood was found to have belonged to Thomas, he said.    Judge Erasmus pointed out that at some stage, Thomas must have “spilt his own blood”. The DNA of another man, Llewellyn Tobias, a self-confessed 28s gang member, was also taken. Tobias, also known as “Eyes” or “Patat”, was initially arrested for the murder along with Thomas and another man, but both were released. Thomas has claimed it was Tobias who had threatened him to “keep quiet about the murder that Tobias and a group of men had committed”.   At the time of Tobias’s arrest, there were blood splatters on his shoes but this was yesterday confirmed to have belonged to someone other than McGregor. The defence is expected to present its case on Tuesday. aeysha.kassiem@inl.co.za - Cape Times http://www.iol.co.za/news/crime-courts/socks-had-blood-of-accused-and-victim-1.731526  

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