LOCAL

Nearly three years on, the two suspects implicated in the murder of 19-year-old Jesse Hess and her grandfather, Chris Lategan, have been convicted. The Western Cape High court heard how the suspects fatally strangled the pair with belts and fled with stolen goods from an apartment in Parow in August of 2019.

In a statement, Western Cape police welcomed the successful trial:

“In August 2019, first year UWC student, Jesse (19)  and her 85 year old grandfather were murdered in their home in Beaumont Court, Parow. Two television sets, a cellular telephone and a laptop were stolen from the house. Hess was sexually assaulted before she was suffocated to death, while her grandfather was strangled.”

“An intensive investigation by our detectives revealed that Van Boven committed the murders and that Ambrose participated in the robbery at the victims’ home. During the trial, the duo turned on each other, revealing the gruesome details of what had transpired on the day of the heinous crime.”

After being found guilty of both murders in May this year, David van Boven was handed two life sentences. Boven was handed 40 years for the two counts of robbery, eight years for sexual assault and three years for fraud.

Accomplice gone state witness, Tasliem Ambrose, claims that Boven was the mastermind, and is due to serve just six years imprisonment on two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances.

VOC