Suspected serial rapist and killer, Pastor Keith Bird, allegedly dated one of the women he is believed to have killed.
The Mitchells Plain holy man met Aniesa Bardien at church and asked her out, her friend Eslin Cupido said on Monday.
Aniesa’s decomposed body was found buried in a shallow grave near an informal settlement in Strandfontein in January 2013.
DNA tests confirmed it was her and items such as a jacket and shoes found at the scene also belonged to her.
Bird appeared via remote camera in the Mitchells Plain Magistrate's Court on Monday, where a date for his formal bail application was given.
The 50-year-old Tafelsig pastor is facing seven charges, including four of rape, two of murder and one of intimidation.
Bird ditched his first bail application in January and was due to receive his High Court trial date earlier this month, but shocked mense when he called for another chance to be freed.
On Monday, Bird appeared calm and confident as he appeared via Audio Visual Remand from Pollsmoor Prison.
More than 20 people, including the family of his alleged victims and crime fighters, were in the courtroom.
MURDERED: Aniesa Bardien
Bird’s lawyer, identified only as Boer, asked the gallery whether anyone was there to support the suspect, but no one responded.
A police official then asked people who were against Bird to raise their hands, and more than 20 hands went up.
Magistrate Walter Golding asked Bird how his health was, to which he answered confidently: “I am fine and I understand, Your Worship.”
Golding told Bird his bail application would start on 16 May and that he would be brought to the courthouse in person: “You will remain in custody. You will be brought from Pollsmoor to Court 4 here at Mitchells Plain for your hearing.”
Outside court, members of the Mitchells Plain Crisis Forum supported families of the victims.
Eslin said she will never forget the day her friend’s body was found.
She says Bird dated Aniesa after the two met at church.
“Children were playing and saw her feet sticking out. She was buried head down and she was identified by her hair and the clothing she was wearing, which was a denim jacket and brown sandals,” says Eslin.
“She was covered by a continental pillow. I remember when Aniesa brought him (Bird) to her mother’s house, and he would not let her out of his sight.
“When I saw him today again, he was the same, those eyes of his... I won’t forget.”
It is believed Bird lured his victims with the promise of a job during 2013 and 2016.
He allegedly also killed Sharvonne Koense, 20, who was raped and strangled.
Her body was found dumped along bushes on Baden Powell Drive in Tafelsig in August 2015.