Horrific details of the brutal murder of UWC student Jesse Hess and her grandfather, Chris Lategan emerged at the Western Cape High Court on Monday, with the rape charges coming under scrutiny.
Tears flowed in the public gallery as pathologist Grace Uren took the stand and told Judge Judith Cloete that Jesse and 85-year-old Lategan were strangled with belts and tape wrapped over their faces.
Their deaths sparked an outcry when their bodies were found after an alleged house robbery on 30 August 2019.
Both of them had been strangled to death, and Jesse was raped.
David van Boven, an alleged member of the 28s gang, was arrested several months later after he was identified as the suspect who raped a 16-year-old girl in Hanover Park. He went on the run and was found hiding in Struisbaai.
The second accused Tasliem “Boontjie” Ambrose was arrested several days later and has since turned on Van Boven, naming him as the mastermind.
Uren told the court she was present at the crime scene and found that the belt tied around Chris’ neck caused his blood vessels to rupture as the blood pooled in his head.
This, she explained, caused blood to flow from his eyes, ears and nose due to pressure.
The post-mortem report conducted on Jesse’s body shocked the courtroom as Uren explained that Jesse had also been strangled with a belt but that a sock and a pillow case had been used to gag her.
In addition, tape was wrapped right around her face and the theology student was found naked from the waist down.
This prompted tests to ascertain whether Jesse had been raped or not.
She said according to the tests, there were no injuries to Jesse’s genitals but when asked by the state prosecutor whether the use of a condom could have prevented this, she agreed.
“The use of a condom will essentially form a barrier between the penis of the perpetrator and the vaginal walls of the victim.
“The use of a condom will essentially protect the vaginal walls from the friction and tearing of the skin,” she said as Van Boven sat smirking in the dock.
She explained that the absence of injuries did not mean Jesse was not raped, saying the condition her body was found in needed to be taken into consideration.
She also told the Judge that if Jesse was unconscious when she was raped there might also be no injuries as she would not have been able to put up a fight.
Meanwhile, Boontjie again turned on Van Boven as his lawyer told the court that Jesse was first gagged, then strangled, then her face wrapped in tape.
During the lunch break, Van Boven was heard openly threatening Boontjie in the dock.