Accused gambled and laughed after Monte murder

Assistant surveillance manager for Montecasino, Clinton Vigne, sifted through hours of footage from 1 600 cameras to construct a timeline of Robinson and Malan’s activities following Blom’s murder, which he presented as a state witness in the South Gauteng High Court. Since the footage is being used as evidence in an ongoing case, it cannot be viewed by the public. However, the details in the tapes can be described.

Timeline

In the early hours of the morning on 19 September 2013, Malan entered Montecasino in a white Volvo through the VIP entrance. He allegedly told the security officer that he was a black cardholder but had forgotten his card at home. He was made to write his details on a form and sign it. He was wearing a white T-shirt at the time with insignia at the front which Vigne used to identify him, and a cap on his head. Vigne said Malan had been banned from Montecasino twice before, once in 2009 when he self-excluded himself, this means that he asked the casino to ban him because he was struggling with gambling problems. He was only allowed back once he completed a counselling programme. In 2012, he was banned again for drug-related issues.

Robinson was with Malan at the time and in the footage she is seen with him when they are searched by security upon entering Montecasino. The pair walked through the gaming floor and stopped to buy drinks at the casino bar. As is seen from the footage, they were extremely affectionate towards one another, hugging, high-fiving and touching one another.

However, Robinson was also visibly fidgety in the footage and rubbed and wiped her nose repeatedly. In the footage, she is wearing jeans and a black tank top which shows off a large tattoo of the sun on her back. Vigne used this tattoo to identify her in the footage. Malan and Robinson walked over to the casino cash desk in the smoking casino and each went to separate cashiers. At this point, Robinson was in very high spirits and was smiling and laughing. The footage of the cashiers desks contains audio so at one point one can hear Malan remarking to an employee that, “Everyone looks so sad here. Why does everyone look so sad?” By this stage, Blom had already been dead for 24 hours. Malan and Robinson recently testified in court that they had been drugging Blom for weeks before his death by asphyxiation.

Malan handed over Blom’s bank card and driver’s licence to the cashier and said his loyalty card had been lost. He asked for R10 000 in R100 notes. Malan had memorised Blom’s PIN and punched in the numbers without hesitating. In the meantime, Robinson went to buy R20 pre-loaded smartcards from another cashier.

Malan and Robinson then went to the slot machines in the Prive area of the casino. In the footage, one can see that Malan gives Robinson money to play with and even presses buttons on her machine for her. By the time the pair had finished playing slots, they had lost R1 500. Malan then went back to the cashier to make a second transaction. According to Vigne, he asked for ‘One five’ which the cashier interpreted as R1 500, however Malan had meant R15 000. Therefore, the cashier made another transaction for the R15 000. Altogether Malan withdrew R26 500 from Blom’s account on 19 September 2013. Malan and Robinson left the casino after this, but not before Robinson stopped to chat to someone she knew on the casino floor.

Later that same day at 1.53pm, Blom’s vehicle, a brown Qashqai with a front spare wheel and a dent on the bonnet, was driven into Montecasino. The driver cannot be identified from the footage. The vehicle was driven to level four of the parkade and left there. Curiously, Vigne said there is no trace of the driver leaving Montecasino, either through the casino or as a passenger through the security gates.

On 22 September 2013, the Montecasino tactical unit went to investigate a foul smell coming from level four of the parkade. A security officer saw an arm through the back window of the brown Qashqai and officers found Blom’s body in the boot of the car.

Someone’s watching

Vigne said the surveillance footage was critical to the case as the information it held was invaluable. The amount of state witnesses was originally 56, but after the surveillance footage was presented, this reduced to eight.

Sian Bailey, PR manager of Montecasino, said it was important to note that Blom was not in fact murdered at Montecasino, but rather his body was disposed of there and if not for Montecasino’s security, the body may never have been found.

“I think people should also be aware that if you commit crime at Montecasino you will most definitely be caught,” Bailey said. “There are cameras everywhere on the premises. Someone is always watching.”

Why do you think Malan and Robinson chose to make their transactions from Blom’s account at Montecasino instead of a more private place? Share your thoughts in the comment section below