Garden Route artist Bevan van Druten during his previous appearance
Image: Ayanda Ndamane
Murder-accused Bevan van Druten remains on the waiting list for a bed at a psychiatric hospital where he is set to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Van Druten, 53, charged with the murder of former detective Anneke “Nicky” van Heerden, made a brief appearance in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
The court heard that Van Druten is number 60 on the waiting list.
Van Heerden’s brutalised body was found on a dune at Rivertides near Keurbooms Beach in Plettenberg Bay on January 18.
The 54-year-old former police detective and Van Druten were in a romantic relationship at the time of the incident.
Van Druten, a driftwood artist, was arrested during the early hours of the following morning.
He previously abandoned his bid for bail.
The court then ordered Van Druten to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
This is to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial.
His Legal Aid attorney, Linda Mfuduka, told the court on Friday that his client is currently number 60 on the waiting list for admission to Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital.
Valkenberg is a state psychiatric hospital in Cape Town that conducts court-ordered mental evaluations for accused persons.
Mfuduka said that at the current pace, it could take up to a year before the evaluation is done and asked that the process be expedited.
Acting state prosecutor Akona Ntobesa argued that the matter was already moving relatively fast.
The case was postponed to April 7.
IOL last week reported that Van Druten allegedly told a friend during a phone call that “demonic stuff” was happening to him and that “strange things” were occurring inside the Knysna prison where he is being held.
According to the man who said Van Druten had phoned him from prison, the call was "strange".
He said Van Druten was a self-proclaimed reborn Christian and believed there were external forces at play.
“Bevan called me and said I needed to visit him in jail because demonic stuff was going on there."
IOL