Cape Town - Allegations of torture and assault at the hands of police were addressed at the trial of David van Boven, 33, and Tasliem Ambrose, 39, in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.
The two face six counts including murder, rape, fraud, theft and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
They allegedly assaulted and killed Jesse Hess, 18, and her grandfather Chris Lategan, 85, whose bodies were found in their Parow flat on August 30, 2019. The accused are also said to have stolen rings, a bank card, a laptop, two cellphones and two TVs.
It emerged last week that according to Van Boven, he was tortured and assaulted by police at Macassar police station after he was arrested on November 13, 2019.
These allegations led to a trial within a trial where a statement made by Van Boven in which he made certain admissions linking him to the murder was contested by his legal counsel, advocate Brendale Abrahams.
During his testimony, Van Boven told the court that he was assaulted twice while in police custody. Police threatened him with further assault if he complained when he appeared in court a few days later, he said.
Van Boven said he thought he was in custody for an incident that happened in Hanover Park, where he was charged with rape and attempted murder.
He said the investigating officer turned it around and told him about the Parow murder but he had no knowledge of the case.
He told the court that while he was being questioned in the office with investigating officer Adrian Pretorius, he was slapped in the face by a metro police officer who he cannot name.
He said later a white bag was put over his head while his hands were tied behind his back and a belt tightened around his neck. He also said he was hit with a wooden object on his back.
Van Boven testified that at that point he screamed that they should kill him because he didn’t know what they were talking about.
Advocate Emily van Wyk questioned Van Boven about the warning statement which said that he was fully aware of his rights and that he was not influenced in any way to give information.
He said he had no knowledge of the contents of the statement, which according to him, was already completed when he signed it. He said he wasn’t asked any questions and was only told to sign the statement.
When Van Wyk put it to Van Boven that he was giving a different version from the one that he instructed to his counsel, he said, “I changed nothing”.