Isis-linked couple charged with murder challenge legality of search at their property

The search and seizure conducted at the Mtunzini home of the Isis-linked couple charged with the kidnapping and murder of Rachel and Rodney Saunders has come under scrutiny at the Durban high court.

The Saunders couple was found murdered in the Eshowe area in 2018 after they had been missing for over 10 days.

Defence attorney Bulelani Mazomba, who represents Sayfudeen Aslam Del Veechio and his wife, Fatima Bibi Patel, questioned the legality of the search that was conducted at their home.

This is after a witness who is a police captain told the court that he had been acting on the instructions of a commander to look for the couple.

The police officer is not being named as per the direction of the court.

During the search, a number of items were seized, which included the four passports belonging to the two accused and those of their children.

The officer said while he had not opened and photographed the passports, he recounted how they were stashed in an exhibit bag. The search had continued into the night and led to Mtunzini.

When he arrived at the home of the accused on February 15, 2018, he had summarily arrested them.

The captain would later assist the investigation by visiting the Waterloo Spar, where the accused are alleged to have made purchases using the deceased’s bank accounts. At the shopping centre, the captain had spoken to the security personnel to glean more information on the accused.

Mazomba argued that his client’s version was that her passport was not there as it had previously been confiscated by the court as part of her bail conditions on a separate 2016 matter, which the witness was also part of.

The witness agreed to being part of the said case but denied having confiscated the passport.

He refuted the assertion that the items were seized illegally.

Meanwhile, Patrick Mkhumbuzi, the lawyer for the third accused in the matter, Malawian Mussa Ahmed Jackson, asked why the police officer had searched a roundavel on the property as it was where Jackson lived, not his accomplices.

At that time it was unbeknown to him that someone was living in the roundavel.

“The fact that he says it belongs to his friend was just his word,” replied the officer.

He also told the court that the door of the roundavel had not been locked, nor was it firmly shut. He said when he made his way inside the roundavel, no items had been labelled as belonging to Jackson.

The court is also expected to hear testimonies of a police officer who took over the possession of the cellphones belonging Del Vecchio and Patel.

Source » timeslive