After more than a year the family of murdered Zarah Hector have no closure. The case, which has taken four months already, has been postponed yet again - this time until February.
Hector went missing with her boyfriend’s BMW Z3 in March last year. Ten days later, her body was found wrapped in plastic bags in a shallow grave on a farm in Groot Drakenstein.
Renaldo van Rooyen, 33, from Kuils River, and Tawfeeq Ebrahim, 26, from Malibu Village, have been charged with her murder, defeating the ends of justice and theft of a vehicle.
The Western Cape High Court yesterday heard that while the State’s final two witnesses were ready to testify, the defence had asked to have their experts scrutinise the final pieces of evidence, which include fingerprints and DNA.
Judge Lister Nuku said: “The case is taking longer than anticipated. Unfortunately the accused are entitled to consult experts.”
Judge Nuku said the suspects were to remain in custody until the trial resumed.
Defence lawyer Maria Marshall said the DNA and fingerprint analysis experts were the last of her witnesses to testify.
Members of Hector’s family who were in attendance were not happy about this, as they had hoped for a speedy conclusion to the case.
Her brother Brendan said: “I understand the State wants an appeal-proof case, and I support that.
“They don’t want the case to come back so they want to give the defence a fair opportunity to state their case.
‘‘But it has been nearly two years already.”
The trial will resume on February 26.