She Stole Our Mom & Dad

Their adopted sister became their stepmom. Now she’s charged with their dad’s murder and their biological mom is behind bars

- Marizka Coetzer

FAMILY dynamics don’t get much more complicated than this. A little girl is adopted at the age of three by a childless couple, who go on to welcome two biological daughters.

All is well for a while – until the parents get divorced.

The adopted sister then marries the father, making her sister and stepmom to the biological kids. And then a murder and a cover-up are added to the mix, resulting in a story that’s almost impossible to believe.

But this is exactly the situation grieving sisters Anita Brits and Maryna Roets find themselves in.

Their mother is in jail for defeating the ends of justice, convicted of helping their father’s alleged murderer mislead the police.

That alleged murderer is none other than their adopted sister and stepmom, Cathy van Oudtshoorn (30).

She has yet to stand trial a full two years after the tragedy, prolonging the sisters’ agony.

Cathy has been referred for psychological assessment to determine if she’s mentally and emotionally equipped to be tried for the murder of their dad, Chris van Oudtshoorn (58).

It’s been almost two years since their family was torn apart but for Anita (27) and Maryna (26) the pain of their loss is as raw as if it happened yesterday.

Cathy stole their mom and dad from them, the sisters say.

She’s accused of shooting Chris on 11 April 2016 in their home in Brakpan, east of Johannesburg. Her lawyer has argued in the high court in Pretoria that his client had a moment of insanity at the time of the shooting.

Maryna tells us she and Anita saw their adopted sister during her previous court appearance in February, which they found distressing.