Cape Town - The Zarah Jane Hector murder trial may end far sooner than expected after the accused indicated they wanted to enter a plea.
The trial resumed at the Western Cape High Court on Monday following delays last week due to a go-slow by court interpreters, who were back at work on Monday.
State prosecutor Maria Marshall and the two Legal Aid advocates assigned to accused Ronaldo van Rooyen, 34, and Tawfeeq Ebrahim, 24, told the court on Monday that they have been in deliberations and the defense asked to submit to the State.
“We have agreed the defence will hand in an application for a possible plea bargain and this will be received by Wednesday, so the trial can start on Thursday,” was all Marshall would say.
Judge Lister Nuku then excused the accused, but Van Rooyen was apparently not feeling well and asked to be returned to Pollsmoor Prison immediately to see the doctor.
They were supposed to return to jail at 3pm, but he said by then, the medical staff at Pollsmoor would be long gone.
Judge Nuku granted his request and asked court officials to arrange it.
Zarah was found dumped on a farm in the Klein Drakenstein, 10 days after she disappeared in March 2016.
She was bludgeoned to death with a hammer.
Prosecutors will try to prove that Zarah was killed in Van Rooyen’s garage at his Sarepta, Kuils River, home, reportedly over a R5 000 debt.