I killed a man, Gumtree accused told sister

Cape Town 140319- Soegbodien Abvadjee admitted on shooting Olwyn Cowley after he advertised his silver BMW on the classified website Gumtree. On the left is accused no 3 Rameez Felix . Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Jade/Argus

Cape Town 140319- Soegbodien Abvadjee admitted on shooting Olwyn Cowley after he advertised his silver BMW on the classified website Gumtree. On the left is accused no 3 Rameez Felix . Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Jade/Argus

Published Oct 17, 2014

Share

Cape Town - Soegbudien Abvajee returned to his Athlone home late one night in August 2012, took off his jacket and told his sister that he had just killed a man.

Abvajee, 55, the man who has admitted to shooting dead 21-year-old Olwyn Cowley in the so-called Gumtree murder case, says he was instructed to shoot, but does not know why he pulled the trigger.

Abvajee who referred to himself as a “condemned”, “has been” member of the 26s gang, was in the witness box at the Western Cape High Court on Thursday, giving his version of what happened on August 30, 2012.

He is on trial with Jason Elias, Shawaal Staggie and Rameez Felix, who stand accused of robbing and murdering Cowley at Century City after Cowley placed an ad on Gumtree looking to sell his silver BMW325ti.

On August 30, Cowley had met potential buyers at the mall, a day later his body was found near Baden Powell Drive in the Khayelitsha area.

The men have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In a plea explanation, Abvajee had previously admitted guilt to aggravated robbery, culpable homicide and the unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Yesterday he told the court he had not killed anyone before the incident, but admitted that he used guns when he committed robberies.

He had also committed robberies with Staggie and Felix in the past.

Abvajee said he shot Cowley three times and had accompanied Elias to dump the body.

He said he had cleaned the blood in the BMW but did not clean a puddle of blood that had collected beneath the front passenger seat - wanting to leave evidence in the car.

He said Elias told him he would shoot Abvajee if he didn’t shoot Cowley.

Abvajee told of the meeting with Cowley where Elias introduced him as his father and asked if they could take the car for a test drive.

He said while leaving the mall, Elias raced across an amber traffic light, looked at him through the rear view mirror and nodded at Abvajee, signalling him to shoot.

Abvajee shot, but did not look where exactly he was shooting.

He heard Cowley’s plea: “Take me to the doctor, take me to the hospital,” when Elias instructed Abvajee to shoot him in the head. At one point Elias used Abvajee’s jacket to cover Cowley’s body he said.

Abvajee’s lawyer, Tanya Nockler, asked him why he shot Cowley.

He said it was because he was told to.

When she asked him again, he said: “I don’t know.”

Nockler pressed further asking why he decided to shoot Cowley if he had not killed anyone previously.

Abvajee replied: “Shawaal said I must shoot the man and Jason said shoot him in the head.”

Later that night Abvajee said he was dropped along Vanguard Drive and walked home.

When he got home, he told his sister he had killed a man and told her to throw away his jacket.

The matter is scheduled to continue on Monday.

[email protected]

Cape Argus

Related Topics: