Wife killer tried to get away with murder

A DAY after the launch of the 16 Days of Activism campaign, murder accused William Carter made a brief appearance in the Western Cape High Court on Friday.

Carter, 73, allegedly staged a crime scene to look like a burglary where his estranged wife, Franziska “Fran” Carter, was murdered in October last year.

Weekend Argus broke the news of the killing at the couple’s upmarket home in Marina da Gama, Muizenberg. At the time, Carter spoke to Weekend Argus from his hospital bed.

The father of two said he had been informed in hospital that his wife of 26 years had been killed.

He said they were attacked by two men in their home in the quiet, waterside suburb, and that he ended up in hospital after being shot in the stomach.

It later emerged that Carter was allegedly the mastermind behind the murder, staging the break-in, killing his 66-year-old wife by beating her with a metal bar, stabbing her to death, and then inflicting an injury to his person.

According to Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, the State will argue that Carter should be found guilty of murder and defeating the ends of justice.

The State will argue that the murder was planned, or premeditated, and that a minimum sentence of life imprisonment is therefore applicable.

It was also brought to light that the couple had separated in 2015 and that the accused subsequently moved out, while the deceased continued living at the house.

In February last year, Carter returned to South Africa to finalise their divorce from the US, where he had been staying.

On October 16 last year, Carter went to the residence without the deceased’s knowledge, occupying a flat on the property.

That evening, the accused entered the main house. He allegedly killed his estranged wife.

The documents further explain that after killing his wife, the accused staged the crime scene in order for it

to appear as if a home invasion had taken place.

In an attempt to appear to be a victim of the home invasion, the accused then shot himself.

The accused, thereafter, called his mistress and told her that he had been shot. She, in turn, informed his daughters.

In the early hours of the following morning, a security officer and the police accompanied the accused’s daughter, where she found her mother’s body on the kitchen floor. A knife was stuck in her mother’s back.

When the injured Carter was discovered, he pretended that he and the dead woman were victims of a house robbery.

He was taken to hospital and received treatment for the gunshot wound.

But the subsequent investigation of the scene found inconsistencies with the version that Carter had presented to the police.

Carter was subsequently arrested at the Constantiaberg Mediclinic, Plumstead, for the murder of his wife.

After his arrest, Carter, in a statement, provided a different account of how his wife had died.

A post-mortem examination conducted on Fran Carter’s body determined that the cause of death was a combination of a blunt force injury to the head and a stab wound to the back.

The case was postponed until February 18 next year for pre-trial.