Jesse Hess was bang of her alleged killer David van Boven and the police knew all along.
One day before the Hess family faces the man accused of raping and murdering the UWC student and her oupa, Chris Lategaan, they have revealed text messages she sent to her boyfriend just before her death.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Voice on Tuesday at his Saldanha home, Jesse’s heartbroken father, Lance, 43, says after discovering the text messages in October, he immediately informed police, despite being kept in the dark about the investigation.
In the texts sent to her boyfriend, the 18-year-old says David was involved with gangs and drugs and often came to their Parow flat “with his sketchy friends” where her aunt Sandy Hess “will like give him something or whatever”.
She says he showed up one day with a friend while she was alone at home and banged “wildly” on the door but she pretended not to be at home.
“I was so scared I ran to Ma’s room and he kept banging on the door,” the message reads.
REVEAL: The texts Jesse sent to her boyfriend.
Lance explains: “She did not send the messages to me and we had no idea he was visiting there.
“In October, our pastor sent me the messages, saying her boyfriend confided in him.
“He had given it to Sandy but it allegedly never reached the police, so I sent it to them and they called me to ask for more information.”
Jesse’s stepmother Audrey Hess, 45, says despite being among those first on the scene, police never took a statement from her.
The Hess family have also denied any relation to Van Boven and say their surname has been dragged through the mud.
HEARTBROKEN: Jesse’s father Lance Hess and stepmother Audrey. Picture: Leon Knipe
Uncle Richard Hess, 49, explains: “Jesse’s aunty, Sandy Hess, was married to our cousin, Roger, years ago and has been divorced from him about 13 years now.
“David is her cousin from their side of the family, making him Jesse’s uncle.
“She was 18 when she died and he was in prison for 10 years (released on parole in December 2018), so she never really knew him.
“We don’t know why they would let him visit the flat, knowing he was in jail for raping his own mother.
“If that was my relative, I would have told him to f*** off as we have children here,” an angry Richard says.
MENACE: Accused David van Boven. Picture supplied
Aunt Natasha, 46, says Jesse dreamed of becoming a pastor.
Van Boven will make his first appearance at Bellville Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday for the rape and murder charges of Jesse and her 85-year-old oupa on 30 August.
The breakthrough came when Van Boven was arrested in Struisbaai for the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Hanover Park last Monday.