Cape Town - The garage of a house in Gertrude Street, Kuils River, containing suspected blood spots and a hammer alleged to be the murder weapon that killed Zara Hector came under close scrutiny in the Western Cape High Court on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old Hector went missing on March 14 last year with her boyfriend's BMW Z3. Her body was found in a shallow grave on a farm in Groot Drakenstein on March 24 - 10 days after she was reported missing.
Renaldo van Rooyen, 33, from Kuils River and Tawfeeq Ebrahim, 26, from Malibu Village were charged with Hector’s murder, defeating the ends of justice and stealing a vehicle.
Hector was allegedly bludgeoned to death with a hammer because she owed the accused drug money.
Warrant Officer Themba Ntobela, a crime scene investigator, was called as a witness to go over the evidence collected at the scene on March 25, 2016.
Ntobela said he took several DNA swabs from the striking face of a hammer as he noticed “red markings” on it during his investigation.
According to Ntobela, red spots were found on areas of the floor, the side of a hi-fi set, inside a cupboard and other areas of the garage.
“The presumable blood was visible for me to see with the naked eye,” Ntobela said.
He said the garage had a slight smell of Jeyes Fluid.
The second State witness called to the stand was Judy Brenner, from Blue Downs. She was a friend of Van Rooyen and knew Ebrahim because he lived nearby.
Brenner said on March 16 last year she visited a friend in Kuils River, where she saw the BMW.
The female friend known as “Amy” as well as Van Rooyen, Ebrahim and two unknown men were also there. Ebrahim asked her for a lift to Salt River, then Brenner, Van Rooyen, Ebrahim and one of the men drove her through in her Ford Figo.
“When we got there Amy and the other guy were already there with the BMW,” she said.
Brenner said they left the BMW in Salt River and Ebrahim asked her for a lift to Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain.
After being shown pictures of the BMW Z3, she identified it as the car last seen in Salt River.
The trial continues on Thursday.