- Mientel Nortier has been charged with her husband Leon Nortier's murder.
- He was shot dead in his Table View home on Friday.
- The former prosecutor was a member of the Cape Bar and was admitted as an advocate in 1988.
A great legal mind – this is how attorneys who knew murdered advocate Leon Nortier have described him.
Nortier was shot dead inside his Table View home on Friday. His wife, Mientel Nortier, appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on a murder charge.
Western Cape National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the case had been postponed to Friday.
"The accused has been referred to the Somerset Hospital in terms of Mental Health Care Act to deal with her medical needs," he said.
READ | Cape Town lawyer Leon Nortier shot dead
Mientel, 60, was arrested after Nortier was shot in their Heron Road home.
Nortier worked as a state prosecutor, before going into private practice.
His former colleague, advocate Annette de Lange, described him as a "gentle giant" and wonderful friend.
"What happened … terrible. So shocking," she told News24 on Wednesday.
She described him as a brilliant legal mind who would solve conundrums in ways others wouldn’t even have considered.
Prosecutor Christenus van der Vijver, who got to know Nortier in the early 1990s when he joined the Director of Public Prosecutions’ office, said he was shocked by his former colleague’s death. They had just recently discussed a legal question surrounding labour law, an area he said Nortier specialised in.
"This is really not the way that I thought that Leon’s life would end," Van der Vijver told News24.
READ | Cape Town ANC councillor shot dead outside home
"I can only describe Leon in one world – solid. He was a solid person in terms of his principles.
"This is somebody who chose his words very carefully before he would venture his opinion on anything. He would sometimes get upset about things, but typical Leon was always in control of his emotions."
Nortier was a member of the Cape Bar and was admitted as an advocate in 1988.