Cape Town - The 18-year-old relative accused of the murder of magistrate Romay van Rooyen has appeared in the Simon’s Town Magistrates’ Court.
Cassidy Hartzenberg, Van Rooyen’s nephew, was a pall-bearer at her funeral and has been charged with two counts of robbery and murder.
On Thursday, the mystery around the cause of her death was revealed to the media when Police Minister Bheki Cele indicated that the magistrate had died of suffocation.
At this stage, court documents further indicate that Hartzenberg allegedly killed her "by strangling her or (by) other means unknown to the State“.
There were reportedly no signs of forced entry, and the 50-year-old had departed from work that Friday to attend a family gathering.
It is alleged that on September 9 he met the magistrate at her home with a request for money, but when she refused he attacked and strangled her.
The magistrate’s lifeless body was discovered the next day by a family member after her Toyota vehicle had been taken from her Marina Da Gama home. It was later recovered near Mitchell's Plain, where Hartzenberg resides.
The matter was postponed to October 6, as Hartzenberg indicated through his Legal Aid lawyer, Chane Africa, that he would apply for bail.