“If I was closer, I would hit him with my crutch.”
These are the words of an angry Lance Hess, 43, after seeing his daughter Jesse’s alleged killers for the first time at the Bellville Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
David van Boven and Tasliem “ Boontjie” Ambrose faced a packed courtroom as various organisations, religious leaders and political parties filled the seats for their much-anticipated first appearance.
The two skollies are accused of strangling the 18-year-old student and her 85-year-old oupa to death.
VICTIMS: Oupa Chris Lategan, 85, and Jesse Hess, 18
However, the victims’ families expressed their disgust at proceedings as some relatives were forced to stand outside.
Van Boven was arrested for the double murder last week after he was charged with the rape of a 16-year-old Hanover Park girl and attempting to smother her and her aunty by taping Shoprite bags over their heads.
According to a police source, after he abandoned his bail application for that matter in the Wynberg Magistrates’ Court on Friday, he piemped Ambrose to police.
The two have been charged with rape, murder and robbery.
APPEAR: David van Boven and Tasliem “Boontjie” Ambrose. Picture: Shanice Naidoo
The accused appeared briefly in court where Ambrose claimed he wanted to represent himself in the trial but was advised to take a Legal Aid lawyer, while Van Boven refused to remove his hoodie as press photographers bore down on him.
The duo abandoned their bail application and the case was postponed to 12 February for further investigation.
While Chris Lategan’s family opted not to attend court, Jesse’s angry family say they were shocked by the “circus at court”.
“If I was closer I would have hit him [David] with my crutch; he was so arrogant,” said Lance, who injured his leg in a car accident years ago.
“I actually wanted to leave because of the circus of court.
“We never thought that the case would be so big and family had to stand outside.
“I am not a political person and I have always worked for what I have, so I think they [political parties] were just capitalising on my child’s death.
“People are forgetting that two people died here and there are families who are affected by this.”
RAW EMOTION: Dad Lance Hess and stepmother Audrey
Lance and his wife, Audrey, Jesse’s stepmom, say they are mentally and emotionally preparing themselves for their first Christmas without Jesse.
“Christmas is coming and this year we don’t even feel like celebrating because Jesse won’t be here, but we must think about her nine-year-old sister, Tristan,” an emotional Audrey says.
“They were very close and every year they would put up the Christmas tree together.
“It is hard for all of us and we keep seeing all this stuff in the media and there is so much stuff that Lance as the biological father does not even know.”
Meanwhile, Hanover Park residents say Ambrose is a dik ding gangster in the area known as Cowboy Town.
“His nickname is Boontjie and he is a Ghetto Kid. The first time we reported that the man who killed that Parow child (David) was in Hanover Park, we said he was with Boontjie and his crew,” says a resident.
A representative of the Lategan family, who asked not to be named, said: “As a family, we felt it would be too much for us to handle to see him face to face.
“We are relieved that the perpetrators are caught and no bail has been granted.
“This brings us no closer to finding closure and our grief is still very real.
“But we have every faith that the justice system will bring us victory in some way.”