3 Charged in Biehl’s Death Are Set Free

In a major setback in the Amy Biehl case, a key witness refused to testify Monday, leading to the dismissal of charges against three of the seven men accused of murdering the 26-year-old Newport Beach woman in a racist attack in August.

“I have no alternative at this stage but to withdraw the charges,” Prosecutor Nollie Niehaus said Monday, minutes after court got underway.

Prosecutors said they were left without a case against the three when Charles Benjamin, a witness to the killing, declined to testify.

Benjamin, a member of the African National Congress, had previously given authorities a sworn statement implicating the three defendants. But he later changed his mind about testifying, citing political reasons. After the court hearing, however, he told reporters he feared that the ANC would not guarantee his security if he testified.

Biehl’s parents, Linda and Peter Biehl of Newport Beach, could not be reached for comment Monday.

Biehl, a white Fulbright scholar who had been studying in South Africa, was driving three black colleagues home to the Guguletu township near Cape Town on Aug. 25, when she happened upon a group of about 30 young blacks. The group was reportedly coming from a rally held by the Pan-Africanist Student Organization, a group known for its virulent anti-white views.

Without warning, the youths began stoning Biehl’s 1982 Mazda. When she tried to flee, several members of the group set upon her and stabbed her to death, according to police reports. The Stanford University graduate was killed just a few days before she was scheduled to return home to Newport Beach.

Biehl’s death has received widespread international attention, largely because she was one of the first foreigners to die in the continuing political violence in South Africa, which has reportedly claimed more than 9,000 lives in the past three years.

Six weeks after the slaying, Biehl’s family and fiance traveled to Cape Town to meet her friends there and learn about her life in South Africa. They placed flowers at the site where she was killed and struggled to come to terms with their loss.

Her fiance, Scott Meinert, 28, an Oregon law student who says he planned to formally propose to Biehl the week she died, said the trip heightened his commitment to the cause of fighting apartheid. Meinert said he plans to return to South Africa one day to continue Biehl’s humanitarian work.

While in South Africa, Biehl was researching the role of women in the transition to majority rule. She had also begun to immerse herself in local culture, studying Xhosa, a language spoken throughout southern Africa.

Monday’s dismissal was the second major setback in the case for prosecutors. A fourth defendant who was not jailed because he is only 15 has been missing since he was returned to the custody of his parents to await trial.

On Monday, after news that three of the accused would go free, jubilant supporters carried them on their shoulders from the courthouse chanting, “One settler, one bullet!”--a popular slogan among the extremist Pan-Africanist Student Organization members who refer to all whites as “settlers” and oppose the African National Congress’ negotiations with the white government.

Other supporters inside the courtroom stood up in the public gallery and gave the group’s openhanded salute when the charges of murder, robbery and public violence against Mlungisi Ngxaza, Mzukisi Mxoli and Mankenke Lungilisa were dropped.

The three remaining defendants are scheduled to face charges today.