DNA test results have linked at least two of the four men charged with the murder of Bronx nightclub owner Bruno Bronn to the crime.
On Tuesday, senior prosecutor Warda Steyn told the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court that the State was in possession of DNA reports which linked John Frederick Coetzee and Achmat Toffa to the murder.
Exactly how the men were allegedly linked to the crime was not revealed in court, only that DNA tests conducted on exhibits matched the DNA of the two men.
A further two men, Fareez Allie and Kurt Erispe, have also been charged with Bronn’s murder.
Bronn was strangled to death inside his Green Point home on February 7 this year.
The State alleges that the men acted as a group in perpetrating the crime.
They are expected to go on trial for their alleged roles in the crime in the Western Cape High Court.
Steyn said on Tuesday that the only investigation outstanding in the case was fingerprint reports and cellphone record analysis.
Steyn said the indictment would be ready by August 15 and that a date for pre-trial conference in the High Court was scheduled for August 31.
Last Wednesday, lawyers for the men objected to the State’s request for another postponement for further investigation, saying the case had been marked final a month earlier. Defence attorneys had brought an application to have the case struck from the court roll, but magistrate Zwelindumile Sogwagwa did not give judgment immediately.
Sogwagwa postponed the case to Tuesday so that he could make a ruling on whether there was unreasonable delay in the case and whether the case should be thrown out of court.
On Tuesday Sogwagwa said he could not make a finding until Toffa’s pending bail application was finalised.
Earlier, Coetzee was granted bail of R20 000, Allie was freed on R5 000 and Erispe on R10 000 bail.
Toffa’s bail application continues on July 31.
Cape Argus