The public gallery of court number one at the Cape High Court was on Monday packed to capacity for the start of the trial of two men charged with the murder in April last year of actor Brett Goldin and fashion designer Richard Bloom.
On the night of April 16 2006 Goldin and Bloom were shot dead execution style, each with a single gun shot to the back of their head. Both had been to a party in Camp’s Bay and had left the party together in Bloom’s VW Playa.
Their naked bodies were found hours later at a traffic circle on the M5 freeway, some distance from Camp’s Bay.
In the dock on Monday, before Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe, were Shavaan Marlie (25) and Clinton Davids (23).
Present in the courtroom were family and friends of the dead men, including former South African Miss Universe, Anneline Kriel.
The prosecution team, senior counsel Nollie Niehaus and Meg Allie, and defence lawyers George Catsicadellis, for Marlie, and Muschtak Parker for Davids, had earlier discussed with Hlophe in chambers the defence’s need for more time to prepare their cases.
Monday’s proceedings thus lasted a few minutes, with Hlophe postponing the case to May 21.
Meanwhile, angry protesters gathered on the steps of the court in protest against crime in the country. One of the protestors flew in from Johannesburg to demand that President Thabo Mbeki do something about crime.
Marlie and Davids face nine counts — two of murder, two of kidnapping and two of robbery with aggravating circumstances, together with two relating to the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and one relating to possession of a dangerous weapon.
The dangerous weapon charge alleges they were in unlawful possession of ”any object that so resembles a firearm, that it was likely to be mistaken for a real firearm”.
Initially, 11 suspects were arrested for the murders, including Marlie and Davids.
Four have already been sentenced by way of plea-bargain proceedings in the Wynberg Regional Court and are to testify against Marlie and Davids as part of their plea-bargain agreements.
Charges against another five were withdrawn, and the remaining two, Faizel Gaffoor (21) and Reshaad Shaik (22) presently face criminal charges for the illegal possession of Bloom’s car. — Sapa