Cape Town - The four men on trial in the so-called “Gumtree” murder trial are continuing to blame each other for the death of 21-year-old Olwyn Cowley as the case draws to a close in the Western Cape High Court.
Cowley’s body was found in the bushes near Baden Powell Drive a day after he had met who he hoped were buyers for the silver BMW325ti he had advertised on Gumtree.
Jason Elias, Shawaal Staggie, Rameez Felix and Soegbudien Abvajee have been on trial for robbing and murdering Cowley, whose body was found on August 30, 2012.
The State alleges that the day before Cowley was found, Elias drove his father’s Mercedes Benz to Athlone with Staggie and Felix as passengers. There Elias and Staggie had lunch at Abvajee’s house, while Felix went to his home across the road.
Later they headed to Century City and stopped at a Mercedes Benz dealership before Elias and Abvajee met Cowley at the Shell garage near Canal Walk while Staggie and Felix waited in a parking area.
Elias and Abvajee went on a test drive of the BMW with Cowley, and during the drive Abvajee shot Cowley.
During a plea explanation Abvajee has admitted being guilty of culpable homicide.
After the shooting the men parked the vehicles and walked into the shopping centre.
Elias and Abvajee left and dumped Cowley’s body returning an hour later. All four then left the shopping centre.
When Elias testified he said there had been no plan to kill Cowley and that he was taken by surprise by the shooting.
On Monday prosecutor Nicolette Bell, argued that there were several aspects of the case Elias could not explain.
She said he had obviously gained Cowley’s trust by keeping in contact with him, even though Elias knew he was not going to buy the vehicle.
Bell asked why Elias had not sought help when he had a chance, and questioned why Elias would contact his girlfriend using Cowley’s cellphone after Cowley had been shot.
Attorney William Booth, for Elias, argued that the State had not proved beyond reasonable doubt that Elias had acted in common purpose with his co-accused. The shooting had come out of the blue for Elias.
Judge Anton Veldhuizen questioned Elias’s behaviour after the shooting in stealing and using a dead man’s cellphone, saying it was indicative of a very “blasé” attitude to go through a man’s pockets after he had been killed and then for Elias to use the cellphone to call his girlfriend.
Omar Arend, for Shawaal Staggie, argued that Elias and Abvajee had a “partnership” in Cowley’s murder and the disposal of his body, adding that Elias was the only one who had an interest in the BMW and had procured the assistance of Abvajee.
Mornay Calitz, for Felix, said Felix had not played much of a role while Abvajee’s lawyer, Tanya Nockler , said that Abvajee could not have planned the murder.
“There’s no way my client came up with this on a whim, on his own,” she said.
Veldhuizen is expected to hand down judgment next Tuesday.
Cape Argus