Cape Town - Tasliem Ambrose returned to the stand on Wednesday in the Western Cape High Court, where he gave testimony about his involvement in the murders of Jesse Hess and Chris Lategan.
Ambrose, who was visibly distraught the previous day, admitted that he was present on the day Hess and Lategan were murdered.
Hess and Lategan were found dead in their Parow flat, on August 30, 2019. According to evidence presented in court, they died of asphyxiation, after they were strangled to death.
Both Hess and Lategan’s bodies were discovered by family members, their mouths and noses had been wrapped with brown adhesive tape, which caused them to suffocate.
As he was questioned by his legal counsel, advocate Christiaan Burger Brand, he testified that an elderly man (Lategan), who seemed to know Van Boven very well, let them into the flat, where Ambrose sat on a couch in the lounge. He said after Van Boven requested refreshments, Lategan served him tea with a mug and saucer.
As he put the cup on the table, Van Boven grabbed Lategan without saying anything. “After the elderly man gave me the tea he turned around to go to the kitchen, that is when he choked him, he choked him with his right hand,” Ambrose testified.
Ambrose said Lategan was “choked” until he passed out, when Van Boven placed him on the ground: “I was in shock about what happened because I didn’t know why he choked the man.”
He testified that Van Boven followed Hess into the bathroom after she came out to greet him. He also heard her scream and saw her running out of the bathroom to the front door in an attempt to flee.
“As she was walking away he tackled her with his shoulders in her stomach, like a rugby move, I think that was the time she saw the elderly man on the floor.
“He tackled her towards me and I jumped up to get out of the way. When he tackled her, he took his shoe laces and tied her hands behind her back. Then he raised her to her feet and told her ‘let's go speak inside’,” Ambrose said in court.
He said Van Boven closed the door of the bedroom and that is when he wanted to leave but when he tried to do so, he couldn’t because the door was locked.
“I was worried because I knew the elderly man said that someone would come fetch him. I was nervous because I don’t know him and I’m not a violent person,” Ambrose said.
He looked inside the bedroom and saw Hess: “I saw her sitting on the floor, without her underwear. As I peeped into the room, he walked out and went to the kitchen. He was very quick, when he came back he had the brown Sellotape with him. He told me to unplug the tv in the bedroom. I had to do it because he told me to.
“He got busy with her, took the brown Sellotape and tied her up from the stomach and around the back. Her hands were still behind her back when he tied her up with the tape,” Ambrose said.
He told the court that he didn’t see Van Boven put the tape around her mouth or face because he was busy with the TV.
“Before I left the bedroom, I saw the keys on the bed. I took the keys and went to the door and it worked. I went back and told him I’m leaving now, he told me to take the TV with me. I went back because I wanted him to take me home, I was scared because I didn't know the area,” Ambrose said.
Ambrose and David Van Boven have been charged with six counts of murder, rape, fraud or theft, and robbery with aggravating circumstances.