A man accused of being hired by British newlywed Shrien Dewani to kill his bride on their honeymoon in Cape Town has denied the charge and is going in for the "long haul," according to the judge.
Xolile Mngeni, who has a brain tumour, is accused of killing Anni Dewani, 28, in an apparent car hijacking in the impoverished Gugulethu township in South Africa in November 2010.
On Wednesday Mngeni appeared at Western Cape High Court where he denied murder, kidnapping, robbery and illegal possession of a firearm.
The man accused of being hired to killed Anni Dewani shielded his face from court photographers
He also refused to make any formal admissions meaning the case will probably be lengthened with prosecutors having to prove each fact.
Judge Robert Henney said: "My goodness, so he's going for the long haul."
Xolile Mngeni has tried to cover his face throughout the trial
Mr Henney warned Mngeni, who sat calmly beside his lawyer, that the murder charge carried a life sentence "because of the manner in which it was planned".
He said the kidnapping charge carried a minimum sentence of five years and the robbery charge 15 years.
The Swedish victim was shot dead after the car she was travelling in with her husband was hijacked.
A picture taken of the couple on their wedding day
Dewani, who the authorities want to extradite to South Africa, was ejected from the vehicle and Mrs Dewani's body was found later.
Up to 32 witnesses could be called to give evidence, said Shareen Riley, state prosecutor.
So far, two men have admitted their roles in Mrs Dewani's murder and claimed her husband orchestrated the killing.
Mziwamadoda Qwabe was jailed for 25 years and taxi driver Zola Tongo was jailed for 18 years after saying Dewani offered him 15,000 rand (about £1,200) to arrange the killing and make it look like a carjacking.
Mziwamadoda Qwabe has been jailed for 25 years for his part in the murder
Dewani, a care home owner from Bristol, is due at Westminster Magistrates' Court on September 18 when an update will be provided on his medical condition.
He is currently in the care of medics after being diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Shrien Dewani is being looked after by medics and is deemed a suicide risk.
In Tongo's plea bargain confession he alleged Dewani had previously arranged for someone to be killed in a fake hijacking in South Africa.
On Wednesday a witness who was given immunity from prosecution and whose identity was kept secret for fear of reprisals, said a person believed to be Dewani had previously organised a hit to look like a hijacking.
The witness said Tongo told him this on November 12 2010, just a day before Mrs Dewani's murder.
Tongo and the witness sat in his silver VW Sharan, where Tongo asked him whether he knew of a hitman, upon request from a foreign man.
The witness, a hotel worker, said: "Along the way, I asked him why he was looking for a hitman... He mentioned to me that there is a lady who needs to be killed.
"But he's not sure because there's two ladies and he's not sure which one to kill."
He added: "He said this gentleman was not from here and he had done this before... pretend as if this person was going to be hijacked when actually the person was killed."
The man's name was never revealed.
According to media reports at the time, former national police commissioner Bheki Cele said the police were probing a link between the 2007 killing of an Eastern Cape doctor and Mrs Dewani's murder.
Pox Raghavjee was found shot dead in his car in Bhisho, a small town in the Eastern Cape region, but nothing was stolen from him.
The Sunday Times reported that his widow Heather Raghavjee, who travelled to Cape Town to comfort Shrien after the murder of his wife, said allegations of a link between the two killings were baseless.