The case against the Alberton murder-accused duo, Werner Jack Schoeman and Delichia Bekker, returned to the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on November 28.

The pair are accused of involvement in the murder of Susan Gillian Murray.

@albertonrecord Alberton murder-accused duo was back at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court. The court heard testimony from the deceased’s daughter. Details on albertonrecord.co.za #ComfortSegredos ♬ News, news, seriousness, tension(1077866) – Lyrebirds music

Murray, who lived in Verwoerdpark at the time of her death, was found dumped in Alberton North in November 2023.

Schoeman (accused one) and Bekker (accused two) face charges including murder, fraud, and theft. Bekker, Murray’s daughter, is accused of involvement in her mother’s death and was arrested days before Schoeman, who was caught while hiding in South Hills.

The deceased’s daughter takes the witness stand

At the November 28 hearing, the court heard testimony from Gillian Tracy-Lee Elser, the deceased’s daughter.

Elser testified via videoconference technology from a remote location. She confirmed Bekker was her sister. Her testimony focused on what gave rise to the suspicion that something might be wrong with her mother.

“My brother and I discussed electronic messages my mom had been sending. We were concerned because it seemed as if Bekker had been typing the messages,” Elser told the court.

She read a message she had received from her brother to the court: “Elser, I think it sounds a bit crazy, but Mom doesn’t seem to be replying to my messages.”

The brother being referred to is Ian Brett Bekker, who testified on September 17.

Elser told the court that during discussions with her brother, she had also pointed out that Murray was not responding to her messages.

“When I was living in Oman, my mother and I would exchange good morning memes every day,” said Elser.
When no replies were coming, Elser sent a message to her mother that read: “It feels like you are shutting me out.”

Elser got no response from her mother for a few days, and this lack of response, she testified, was unusual.

After more discussions with her brother about the strange behaviour of their mother, the siblings agreed that Ian would visit Murray at her Verwoerdpark home.

Elser further testified that before Ian could visit, Ian received a message supposedly by their mother. Ian forwarded the message to Elser.

Ian and Elser were concerned about how the messages coming from their mother were written.

Elser testified the messages did not make sense: “The spelling and language usage were typical of my sister Delichia.”

According to Elser, her mother had an excellent grasp of the English language and had impeccable spelling.

Questioned on why she thought it was Delichia who was writing the messages, Elser said she knew her sister’s style of writing and spelling.

“Delichia spells phonetically,” Elser told the court. Phonetic writing means spelling words exactly as they sound. For example, a person learning to read might write “lik” for “like.”

Elser noticed that the person sending her messages from her mother’s phone spelt her first name with the letter ‘J’ (Jillian), instead of the letter ‘G’ (Gillian). The messages Ian and Elser had been receiving, supposedly from their mother, led them to the conclusion that someone was pretending to be Murray when it was clearly not her.

The presiding magistrate postponed the case for further evidence after Elser testified for about two hours. She is expected to continue her testimony on December 8.

The Alberton Record also understands that the State intends to call a doctor to testify.

Schoeman and Bekker remain in custody.

WATCH: Son testifies in Alberton murder trial, reveals suspicions over mother’s strange messages