Family’s three-year wait for murder trial of fire and rescue dispatcher

Cape Town: It has taken three years of frustration and disappointment for the family of a murdered emergency worker in the City’s Fire and Rescue Department to finally hear witness accounts in the much-anticipated trial, only to have it postponed to 2022.

The trial for the murder of Michael Davids, 34, of Blackheath finally got under way this week at the Wynberg Regional Court after several postponements and delays.

Shaquille Groep, 24, Justin Hendricks, 24, Shane Hendricks, 21, and Xavia Simpson, 27, are all on trial for Davids’ murder.

This week the case was hit with another delay when one of the accused, Justin Hendricks, was out on bail and failed to attend court.

During court proceedings, police traced Hendricks to a location where he was drinking with friends and arrested him after a warrant was issued.

Both Hendricks and Groep are now behind bars after their bail was revoked for breaking bail conditions.

The men were initially granted R800 bail each.

The State is set to prove the group had allegedly given Davids a lift after an apparent argument with his girlfriend on June 30, 2018. He had been walking home in Schaapkraal in Philippi when they stopped for him.

The couple had earlier been on a night out at Club Fever in Athlone.

The group is alleged to have robbed Davids of his Sony Ericsson cellphone and belongings, and apparently urinated on him while dumping his body along Olieboom Road in Philippi.

Davids’ body was found dumped on July 1, 2018 riddled with stab wounds and he was only dressed in his underpants.

After an intense investigation between police and private investigator, Johan Beukes, from J Beukes & Associates, the suspects were apprehended thanks to links to his cellphone.

The cellphone had been sold and was tracked to the new owner’s workplace in Montague Gardens.

This witness took the stand this week, testifying how he had purchased Davids’ cellphone. There was a further delay of a couple of hours because there was no Afrikaans interpreter available. Magistrate Karel Meyer insisted the matter be heard, and adjourned until court staff had secured an interpreter.

An additional witness took the stand, only for the case to be postponed to March 8, 2022, due to a full court roll.

Beukes said he had been approached by Davids’ family after there were no new leads in the case.

“After consultation with the family, I obtained the usage profile of the IMEI number of the cell phone which was taken during the incident. The result was that a new sim card was inserted a few days after the incident, and that is how I identified the new owner of the number.

“I interacted with the investigating officer and subsequently that is how he was arrested at his workplace in Montague Gardens, still in possession of the cell phone of the deceased. I am glad I could be of assistance to the entire family,” he said.

Davids’ family were in full attendance of the court case this week.

His cousin, Danie Isaacs, who spoke on behalf of the family, said they were frustrated and disappointed with the continuous delays in the case, but were glad it was finally being heard.

“Michael was my cousin but he was my best friend. He was a friendly person who socialised with everyone. He was a dispatcher for the City’s fire and rescue department and his life was taken away so brutally. It is not fair that his case has been dragged for such a long time, there were either no legal representatives or the accused were not present at court.

“Michael deserves justice, his job was saving other peoples’ lives.

“Now we have heard the case will only be heard on March 8, 2022 after two witnesses spoke and we were told its because the court list is too busy,” he said.

Weekend Argus