Accused number 1, Sekwetja Mahlamba, will on Tuesday apply for bail on new facts that have come alight. This as the state's DNA results do not prove that Mahlamba and accused number 2 Sekola Matlaletsa's presence on the crime scene. 

The defence for the accused wants them to be released before the court heads to the Circuit Court sitting in Bethlehem. Mahlamba and Matlaletsa face charges of murder, robbery, and also stock theft - which is separate from the Horner murder case.

OFM News previously reported that the prosecutor in charge of Horner's murder case removed himself from the case a few weeks after the DNA results in the case came back negative. According to the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) regional spokesperson in the Free State, Phaladi Shuping, the prosecutor was booked off sick.  

Meanwhile, Defence Advocate Machini Motloung previously told OFM News that they don’t want the case to be transferred to the High Court while their clients are still in custody. Mahlamba and Matlaletsa pleaded not guilty to the murder and robbery charges and, according to Motloung, thus far there allegedly hasn't been any tangible material evidence such as DNA results that directly links them to the murder of Horner.

According to reports, police received a call from other farmers reporting the attack at the De Rots Farm and while police were on the scene, they seized a knife from the scene and his bakkie was later found with bloodstains, abandoned near the Duikfontein farm at Paul Roux.

The two have been in custody since October 2020.  

The duo was arrested in October 2020, following the discovery of Horner's body which was tied to a pole near Fateng Tse Ntsho, at Paul Roux, with stab wounds to his head, shoulders, and hands.

OFM News