A KNOCK on the door marked the beginning of the end for a personal assistant (PA) and her long-standing bond with her bosses, world-renowned UK husband and wife botanists, who also had firm South African roots.
That was a submission made at the Durban High Court this week, by the PA who worked for renowned botanists Rodney Charles Saunders, 73, and his wife Rachel May, 63.
They were kidnapped and murdered while on a field trip in KwaZulu-Natal during February 2018.
A day before the couple were due to return to their Cape Town home on February 14, 2018, a policeman visited the PA inquiring about the couple’s whereabouts.
Shortly thereafter, she learnt that the Saunders’ were possibly kidnapped.
Rodney’s mutilated and dismembered body washed up on the Tugela River Mouth’s south bank on February 17, 2018.
Three days earlier, Rachel’s mortal remains, also in an advanced stage of decomposition, was found on the opposite side of the river mouth.
Such was the condition of the two corpses that the identities were only established a few months later, after an in-depth analysis from a handful of experts.
Bibi Fatima Patel, 31, her husband, Sayefudeen Aslam Del Vecchio, 42, and Malawian Mussa Ahmad Jackson, 35, are the accused in the matter.
The State believes that the three were responsible for the kidnapping, assault and murder of the couple whose bodies were dumped into the Tugela River.
They have also been accused of plundering the Saunders’ bank accounts.
Del Vecchio faces additional arson charges for allegedly setting alight the Tongaat Huletts Group’s sugar cane fields, near uMdloti, in September, 2017.
Due to possible ISIS links and for the safety of witnesses, the court ordered that they not be named.
Senior State advocate Mahen Naidu led the PA as a witness on Tuesday.
“They collected plant seeds, which were exported to botanical gardens and well-known collectors. They travelled a lot, about nine months in a year.”
“I ran their business while they were away.”
Rodney was born in the UK, moved to SA at a young age and was a horticulturist, while Rachel, a doctor of microbiology, was born locally to UK parents, both lectured around the world and were well known, said the PA.
“They were family friends (for whom) I worked for 21 years.”
“They left for the Drakensberg on February 4, to do a BBC documentary on plants and bulbs.
“It was their first time doing a documentary. They were very particular about the work they did”
The PA always assisted with packing the couple’s Toyota’s Land Cruiser with items like tents, mattresses and fridge, and communicated with them while they were away.
On February 8, she received a message they were at the Bivane Dam (Vryheid, northern KZN) and would return on the 14th.
The last she heard from them was on February 9.
She thought it was odd when the policeman visited their office asking about the couple, she messaged Rachel about that.
Once the kidnapping was confirmed, she assisted police by providing personal items like hair brushes for possible DNA samples to be lifted.
Among other State witnesses who featured this week was the teller who worked at a sports goods outlet at Durban’s Pavilion shopping mall.
Around the time the couple were reported missing, the teller handled a sale worth more than R8 000, allegedly made by the three accused, which Jackson paid for using a bank card in the name of “RM Saunders”.
She sensed something was amiss.
Three days later, while reconciling transactions she came across the slip of paper indicating the same sale.
Her research showed it was not Saunders, (with whom) she dealt. She called the PA, but learnt they were not available.
A seasoned Hawks investigator told the court the couple's abandoned vehicle was tracked to Waterloo, Verulam, on February 18.
He said the old transponder unit fitted to the vehicle enabled them to track it to the dead-end on Nkosi Johnson Road, about 2km away from the local Spar outlet.
After a period of observation, they approached the vehicle.
He believed the dry droplets at the rear end of the vehicle was blood.
Forensic investigators conducted an external examination of the vehicle before it was escorted to Richards Bay for extensive checks.
A KwaDukuza-based medical doctor, who inspected one of the bodies on February 19, 2018, said he was unable to say with certainty what the sex was.
He noticed the body was in advanced stages of decomposition, a gaping fracture of the skull, fractures of the neck and chest, and multiple stab wounds .
About the missing right arm and leg, the doctor suspected it might have been bitten off by crocodiles.
Later, it was discovered that corpse in question was that of Rachel.
Proceedings resumed on Monday with the security guard who responded to the fire alert at three Tongaat Huletts estates at 1:50pm.
“I have never seen fires across the estates like that before.”
He said he noticed a white male with long hair and a beard travelling in a Ford Ranger with a passenger, when he crossed paths with the vehicle.
He claimed he saw something thrown from the vehicle, which resembled folded paper, that ignited fires.
Attorney Bulelani Mazomba, representing Del Vecchio, said his client admits he was present when the fires occurred at “11am”.
“He went there to watch the sugar cane burning and eat lunch at a place called the ‘Tree House’.”
The security officer who worked eight years for Tongaat Huletts, sad he never heard of a place called Tree House.
Proceedings were adjourned prematurely on Friday, till Monday, after Jackson indicated he was unwell.
SUNDAY TRIBUNE