Two bodies found, both burnt beyond recognition, and a third missing person whose body was never found, two forged wills and a host of circumstantial evidence all link a Gauteng woman, Zaheera Boomgaard, to their murders, the prosecution on Thursday told the Gauteng High Court Pretoria.
Boomgaard, 63, is facing 55 charges, including three of murder, as well as robbery and fraud charges.
She has been charged with killing Jamnadas Harkant Nathvani, a British national whose body was burnt beyond recognition.
Nathvani, 71, had arrived in Gauteng in 2020, and he was last seen in February that year when he took a bus from Park Station in Johannesburg to Newcastle in KwaZulu-Natal.
A missing person’s case was opened at the Newcastle police station, and the information was circulated. His body was found in the open veld in Gauteng in March 2020 and was burnt beyond recognition.
It was months later that the police were able to identify him by his teeth, but it was established that there were signs of blunt force trauma and strangulation.
Nathvani was found after his friend Lynette Mustapha’s charred remains were found in Walkerville. She was identified by her fingerprints. John Naisby, Boomgaard’s third alleged victim, went missing in 2012 after visiting Boomgaard.
His body was never found. The state argued that while the evidence against Boomgaard in the case of Naisby was not overwhelming, there were similarities between that case and the murder of Nathvani.
Prosecutor Andre Wilsenach pointed out that in both cases, they visited Boomgaard before they went missing. Both their bank cards went missing, and it was found that Boomgaard had used both cards.
The court also heard evidence from the police that when Boomgaard was arrested, they found copies of two wills in her house which belonged to Mustapha and her sister Marlene, who had also died. According to evidence, the wills were forgeries, and in the wills, Boomgaard was made the sole beneficiary.
She handed the “original” copies of the wills to FNB. Boomgaard, meanwhile, testified that she had no knowledge that the wills were forgeries.
The court was also told that a piece of paper, with Mustapha’s signature written several times, was also found in Boomgaard’s home.Boomgaard, from the start, denied any knowledge of the killings, and the prosecution was faced with a host of circumstantial evidence.
In the case of Naisby, she testified that she only met him once when she picked him up at the airport. He told her he was going to live in Rustenburg, and she did not know what had happened to him.
Regarding the murder of Nathvani, a tyre track analyst testified that the tracks found next to his body were similar to that of the car Boomgaard drove. SANRAL gantries also picked up her car at the time, travelling in the direction where his body was found. Following his death, his bank cards were used at various shops, and various cash withdrawals were made from his account.
The police testified that when she was arrested, a bank card belonging to Nathvani and his cellphone was found in her house. Mustapha’s body was, meanwhile, found about 4km from where Nathvani’s body was found.
The deceased’s neighbour later received a message via Mustapha’s SIM card, put in Nathvani’s phone, that she (the neighbour) must not worry as she (Mustapha) is fine, but that she was in hospital after an accident. The prosecution said all this evidence led to the conclusion that Boomgaard was guilty. Judgment will be delivered on May 9.