The full horror of the Sizzlers massage parlour massacre will be laid bare for the first time on Wednesday.
It is expected that expert medical evidence will show that the nine men who died had been tortured for several hours.
Gruesome video footage, taken minutes after police arrived at the murder scene in Sea Point, is to be screened in the Cape High Court.
It will show images of a blood-splattered dorm room where five of the bodies were found bound and lying closely together. Their hands and feet were tied with duct tape.
Some had their throats slit. Others were executed with a single gunshot to the back of the head.
Six victims died at the scene and another three in hospital.
Former waiter Adam Woest, 27, and taxi driver Trevor Theys, 43, face nine charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder.
It is alleged they killed Sizzlers owner Aubrey "Eric" Otgaar, and masseurs Sergio de Castro, Warren Visser, Stephanus Fouché, Tim Boyd, Johan Meyer, Travis Reade, Marius Meyer and alleged client Gregory Berghaus in a Sea Point house in the early hours of January 20 last year.
The charge of attempted murder relates to the sole survivor of the massacre, who is a state witness and may not be named.
Other charges include illegal possession of a gun, as well as the theft of R7 000, a watch and a gold necklace belonging to Otgaar, and other watches and jewellery.
The state alleges that at some point on the night of the murders, Theys and Woest entered a dormitory bedroom with Otgaar, who introduced them to his employees.
Apart from one man, who was lying on his upper bunk bed, the men were all standing around.
The only man to survive the attack - one of the state's key witnesses - said he noticed the attackers were wearing rubber surgical gloves.
After the men produced guns and ordered the men to lie on their stomachs, police say, one of the assailants tied their hands and feet with package tape.
The court will be told that in an ordeal believed to have lasted several hours, the men were stabbed in their backs and necks and watched as petrol was sprinkled all over the bedroom.
The state alleges that the assailants then left the dorm room - with one returning to the room to watch over the men while the other moved through the house.
At some point, investigating officers believe, this man walked into the salon room where De Castro and Berghaus were.
Shots were fired. The attacker then allegedly returned to the dormitory and he and his accomplice allegedly shot Otgaar and the other men at point-blank range.
The case, which was scheduled to start on Tuesday, was postponed until Wednesday morning - to allow for consultation between state advocate Anthony Stephen, Woest's advocate, Mornay Calitz, and Theys's counsel Nehemiah Ballem.
Ballem replaced Theys's previous counsel Christopher Rijke, who asked to withdraw because Theys had changed his instructions so frequently his job had become almost impossible to carry out.
Mr Justice Nathan Erasmus said he believed consultation between counsel and the state would "save time in the long run".
Woest and Theys's psychiatric reports - each completed after 30 days' observation of the two men by three expert psychologists at Valkenberg Hospital - were handed over to Calitz and Ballem on Tuesday.
It is believed the state's case will begin with police video footage of the crime scene and move on to a state pathologist's evidence.
It is expected that 89 witnesses will testify.
Gregory Berghaus's mother Fay and Aubrey Otgaar's parents attended the hearing. Fay Berghaus has indicated she will watch the state's footage, despite its potentially disturbing nature.
Court four was packed and spectators strained to catch a glimpse of Woest and Theys, who wore the same clothing as in a previous appearance.