In June 2005, Fred van der Vyver, a young actuary and the son of a
wealthy Eastern Cape farming family, was charged with murdering his
girlfriend, Inge Lotz, allegedly bludgeoning her to death with a
hammer as she lay on a couch in her lounge. The case against Van der
Vyver seemed overwhelming. His behaviour at the time of the murder
appeared suspicious and incriminating, and a letter, penned by Inge
on the morning of her death, suggested that the two had been
fighting. But it was forensic evidence that seemed to prove his
guilt: his fingerprints were found at the scene, one of his shoes
was matched to a blood stain on the bathroom floor, and traces of
blood were found on an ornamental hammer that had been given to him
by the victim's parents. And yet, in one of the most sensational and
controversial murder trials in South African legal history, Van der
Vyver's lawyers sought to turn the table on the police, accusing
them of fabricating evidence and lying to the judge. In Fruit of a
Poisoned Tree: A True Story of Murder and the Miscarriage of
Justice, prize-winning author Antony Altbeker takes you into the
heart of the epic courtroom battle. Altbeker's eye-witness account
of the trial presents the reader with all the evidence and testimony
of the trial, while also placing it in the context of a society and
a justice system that are being stretched to breaking point.
