Cape Town - Adrian Pretorius, the investigating officer who worked on the murder case of Jesse Hess, 18, and her grandfather Chris Lategan, 85, testified in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.
David van Boven, 33, and Tasliem Ambrose, 39, appeared in court on charges of murder, rape, fraud, theft and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
They allegedly assaulted and killed Hess and Lategan, whose bodies were found tied up with brown Sellotape in their Parow flat on August 30, 2019. It is alleged they stole rings, a bank card, a laptop, two mobile phones and two TVs.
Pretorius is part of the provincial organised crime unit with more than 33 years’ experience, and took over the investigation on September 4, 2019.
He told the court that he obtained the mobile phone numbers of the deceased and was able to track down where the phones were being used. The activity from data collected showed that Hess’s phone was being used in Ravensmead, while Lategan’s phone was used in Hanover Park.
He said he managed to find Hess’s phone in a container used as a barbershop in 12th Avenue in Ravensmead, where a Congolese man told him he had bought it on the day of the murder.
Pretorius said Lategan’s phone was used to make a call to Cassiem Ambrose, who told him that he didn’t answer the call but assumed his son Tasliem had contacted him that day looking for food.
The last call made from Lategan’s phone was on September 3, 2019, from Hanover Park.
He then discovered Ambrose was in custody in Pollsmoor Prison for the possession of drugs, and arranged to question him at his office. Pretorius informed Ambrose that he was being questioned as part of a murder investigation, and told him to share any information he had.
Ambrose told Pretorius that he assisted Van Boven on the day after the murder, August 31, and helped him make repairs to his car. He then said that he used a phone that was on the floor in Van Boven’s car to call his father while he was helping him. Pretorius told the court that they found loose papers and brown Sellotape in Van Boven’s car after it was seized.
On November 11, 2019, Pretorius received a call that Van Boven had been involved in an incident in Hanover Park, and was wanted for rape and attempted murder.
He said the crime scene was attended by local detectives, but because the modus operandi of that specific case was so similar to the Parow murder, he was instructed to take over the investigation.
A manhunt ensued in search of Van Boven, who was identified by witnesses. He then received information that Van Boven was in Struisbaai, and he was arrested on November 13, 2019. Pretorius said that because Van Boven made admissions on the Parow murder, he was charged in the present matter.
He said Van Boven then appeared in Wynberg Magistrate’s Court for rape and attempted murder, and a week later appeared for the current matter.
State prosecutor advocate Emily van Wyk at that point told the court that certain admissions were made by Van Boven in which he made confessions and implicated himself.
However, the defence objected to the admissions, which according to advocate Brendale Abrahams were obtained under duress. This led to a trial-within-a-trial where the court heard why the admissions could or could not be permissible in court.
Abrahams said that according to his client, Van Boven was “assaulted and tortured” by the police and his constitutional rights were violated. Abrahams alleged that Pretorius was one of six officers who beat up Van Boven at Macassar police station, where he was held after he was arrested.
Pretorius denied this in court and told the court that Van Boven spoke to him about the Parow murder while he was transported to Khayelitsha Clinic for his blood sample to be taken.
He then informed Van Boven to wait until they arrived at the station. He said that he had informed Van Boven of his rights several times before the accused willingly made these admissions.
He also told the court that Van Boven had pointed out where he sold the laptop and the TVs of his own volition, and was “relaxed and relieved” when these admissions were made.