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CNN Live Today
Three Accused of Feeding Man's Body to Lions
Aired February 18, 2004 - 11:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A judge in South Africa has delayed a bond hearing for three men accused of feeding another man's body to the lions.
CNN's Johannesburg bureau chief, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, joins us by videophone with details.
Charlayne -- this incident is beyond understanding.
CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN JOHANNESBURG BUREAU CHIEF: Well, very few people here in South Africa can understand it. As you may have heard, a skull, a leg bone and bits of tattered bloody clothes were found in a lion enclosure at a game park in northern South Africa.
And yesterday, my camera woman, Cynde Strand (ph), and I were at the bail hearing, and one of the accused, whose case was dismissed because he turned state's evidence, actually told us that the man who is accused of beating this man to death, Mark Scott-Crossley, who's currently in detention, actually took a wire and choked him, and then insisted that these other three workers throw him into this lion enclosure. He said he personally saw four or five lions around there.
And when he balked at doing this, the man, Mark Scott-Crossley, threatened to shoot him if they didn't throw the body over.
Now, no one has been able to positively identify this man as being Nelson Chisale, the 38-year-old father of three, but he has been missing since he went to the farm where he worked with Mark Scott- Crossley to reclaim his pots and pans. Earlier, he laid a charge against Scott-Crossley, saying that he had burned his clothes, and that may be part of the source of the enmity. But, of course, we won't know that until the actual trial begins -- Carol.
LIN: Charlayne, what has been the local reaction to this?
HUNTER-GAULT: Well, it seems to be divided along racial lines, if you could judge by the people who appeared at court yesterday. There were quite a few demonstrators outside with some pretty virulent messages like "kill the farmer, kill the boar." These were phrases that were used during the vicious days of apartheid when whites were doing really terrible things to blacks, and this was the slogan of one of the parties.
Now, when the mayor of the town where the case was to be heard, Palabora (ph), was asked about these slogans, he said that they were perfectly justified in that so many farmers and black people living in rural areas are being abused by whites, and this is a part of their freedom of expression, although the Human Rights Commission here has said that that particular phrase is hate speech -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Obviously, this gruesome crime going far beyond just the act alone. Thank you very much, Charlayne Hunter-Gault live in Johannesburg.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired February 18, 2004 - 11:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: A judge in South Africa has delayed a bond hearing for three men accused of feeding another man's body to the lions.
CNN's Johannesburg bureau chief, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, joins us by videophone with details.
Charlayne -- this incident is beyond understanding.
CHARLAYNE HUNTER-GAULT, CNN JOHANNESBURG BUREAU CHIEF: Well, very few people here in South Africa can understand it. As you may have heard, a skull, a leg bone and bits of tattered bloody clothes were found in a lion enclosure at a game park in northern South Africa.
And yesterday, my camera woman, Cynde Strand (ph), and I were at the bail hearing, and one of the accused, whose case was dismissed because he turned state's evidence, actually told us that the man who is accused of beating this man to death, Mark Scott-Crossley, who's currently in detention, actually took a wire and choked him, and then insisted that these other three workers throw him into this lion enclosure. He said he personally saw four or five lions around there.
And when he balked at doing this, the man, Mark Scott-Crossley, threatened to shoot him if they didn't throw the body over.
Now, no one has been able to positively identify this man as being Nelson Chisale, the 38-year-old father of three, but he has been missing since he went to the farm where he worked with Mark Scott- Crossley to reclaim his pots and pans. Earlier, he laid a charge against Scott-Crossley, saying that he had burned his clothes, and that may be part of the source of the enmity. But, of course, we won't know that until the actual trial begins -- Carol.
LIN: Charlayne, what has been the local reaction to this?
HUNTER-GAULT: Well, it seems to be divided along racial lines, if you could judge by the people who appeared at court yesterday. There were quite a few demonstrators outside with some pretty virulent messages like "kill the farmer, kill the boar." These were phrases that were used during the vicious days of apartheid when whites were doing really terrible things to blacks, and this was the slogan of one of the parties.
Now, when the mayor of the town where the case was to be heard, Palabora (ph), was asked about these slogans, he said that they were perfectly justified in that so many farmers and black people living in rural areas are being abused by whites, and this is a part of their freedom of expression, although the Human Rights Commission here has said that that particular phrase is hate speech -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Obviously, this gruesome crime going far beyond just the act alone. Thank you very much, Charlayne Hunter-Gault live in Johannesburg.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
