Coetzee alleged that Thabethe was the aggressor - and that he acted in self-defence. The State says Coetzee ran after Thabethe, who was then stabbed while lying helplessly on the ground. Leon Coetzee, the man accused of murdering Thembinkosi Thabethe, following an uproar because of a WhatsApp message, said he acted in self-defence. Coetzee, 55, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, where he applied for bail. It is alleged that, on 26 April, Coetzee stabbed Thabethe three times outside his home in Green Acres Estate in Montana, Pretoria. According to the State, Thabethe went to Coetzee's house to confront his wife after a screengrab of a message addressed to her was shared on the estate's WhatsApp group.