Durban High Court hears of Umdloti “Isis gang’s” murder and spending spree
Cell phone evidence presented in court revealed the couple was stalked and killed as "a good hunt" before being stuffed into sleeping bags and thrown into the crocodile infested Tugela River.
Umdloti’s alleged “Isis gang” blew R734 000 of a couple they are believed to have robbed and murdered in 2018.
The trial of three alleged Isis affiliates accused of torturing to death two elderly botanists in northern KZN in 2018 resumed this week.
Former Umdloti residents Sayfudeen Aslam Del Vecchio (43), his wife Bibi Fatima Patel (31) and a Malawian accomplice, Mussa Ahmad Jackson (41), aka. “Bazooka”, returned to the Durban High Court on Monday morning under heavy police guard.
To date the trial has been marked by a series of delays, and Monday morning was more of the same. Proceedings were initially delayed by more than an hour because the elevator that brings the accused to court was out of order.
Once that had been sorted out, the matter was further delayed when the accused needed more time to consult with their State appointed attorneys, Bulelani Mazomba for Del Vecchio and Patel, and Patrick Mkumbuzi representing Jackson.
The court then heard the accused had prepared a ten page document outlining instructions for a new application to be brought before the court, and the matter stood down for the day.
World-renowned Cape Town botanists Rodney Saunders (74) and his wife Rachel (63) were searching for rare seeds in the Ngoye Forest near Mtunzini when they were allegedly kidnapped and murdered on February 10, 2018.
Cell phone evidence presented in court earlier this year revealed the couple was stalked and killed as “a good hunt” before being stuffed into sleeping bags and thrown into the crocodile infested Tugela River in the dead of night.
The court heard that after being stripped of “useful” equipment, the elderly couple’s Toyota Land Cruiser was dumped in Nkosi Johnson Road, Waterloo.
The three accused then allegedly went on a R734 000 shopping spree using Rachel Saunders’ FNB Gold credit card at various ATMs and shops in Salt Rock, Waterloo and Umhlanga.
Del Vecchio and Patel were subsequently arrested in a police raid on their homestead near the Ngoye Forest on February 15, 2018. Jackson, who fled when he spotted police approaching was arrested a month later on March 23.
Although the Saunders’ severely maimed bodies were discovered within days of being dumped, it would be months before they were identified through DNA testing and dental records.
Rachel Saunders’ body was discovered on February 14 but only identified on June 6, while Rodney Saunders’ body was discovered on February 17 and identified on April 25.
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