The first three men arrested in connection with the murder of actor Brett Goldin and his friend Richard Bloom, a fashion-production manager, appeared in the Cape Town magistrate’s court on Friday.
It was their second court appearance.
The men are charged with possession of stolen property — a credit card and items of clothing belonging to the two victims.
However, they are to join six other alleged accomplices in the murder, and will appear with them in Wynberg magistrate’s court on April 26.
Goldin and Bloom were found dead in a field opposite the M5 highway in Mowbray, Cape Town on Monday. Each had a bullet wound to the back of the head and were lying on their stomachs, naked except for their socks, said Superintendent Billy Jones.
They were last seen on Saturday night leaving a party in the Camps Bay area shortly before midnight.
Jones told the Mail & Guardian Online on Tuesday that whether Goldin and Bloom were murdered in the field ”has not been confirmed yet”, but indications on the scene all pointed to the murders taking place there.
He said that they are still treating the motive for the murders as robbery and can’t comment on whether or not the murders are gang-related in any way. One of the accused is identified as the younger brother of notorious Americans gang leader Igshaan ”Sanie” Davids of Kensington.
Appearing before magistrate Herman van der Merwe in the Cape Town magistrate’s court on Friday were Shavan Marley (25) of Kensington, Rameez Zaeed (23) of Newfields and Clinton Davids (23) of Kensington.
All three were arrested last Sunday. At their first appearance two days later, they said they wanted lawyers but would not apply for bail. On Friday, prosecutor Juanita Swart told the court that the three had already appeared in the Wynberg magistrate’s court.
She said the charge of possession of stolen property would be joined to the murder charge when they appeared in court again next week. Swart said the present charge of possession of stolen property will be withdrawn in order to centralise the two cases.
Meanwhile, two men and a young woman appeared in connection with the crime at the Wynberg magistrate’s court on Friday. They were remanded in custody and are to appear again on April 26.
Meanwhile, Goldin was buried at West Park cemetery on Friday and The Star quoted his sister as saying her family is not coping.
”My mother and father are broken. Her eyes are so swollen from crying, she can’t even open them, and my father just sobs all the time.” — Sapa