Henning hit: cellphone trail wiped

The Pretoria Magistrate’s Court has heard that cellphone calls between André Gouws and Chanelle Henning’s estranged husband, Nico – made before her death – were deleted from Gouws’s handset.

Records of calls between former Nigerian Olympian Ambrose Monye, one of the murder accused, were also deleted from Gouws’s handset.

Cellphone analyst Captain Francois Moller, who is attached to the Hawks, told magistrate Kieran Pillay Gouws had sent two SMSes to Henning’s husband; one in the morning and one in the afternoon on November 8 – but both were deleted.

The court heard the cellphone of Henning’s husband was stolen on the day Chanelle was murdered. But he had another number Gouws was unable to access because Henning had not done a SIM swop.

Moller said there was constant communication between Gouws, Monye, Gerhardus du Plessis and Willem Pieterse before the hit on Chanelle Henning on November 8.

She was shot dead by two men on a motorbike after dropping off her child at a Faerie Glen nursery school. Du Plessis and Pieterse have pleaded guilty to the murder and are each serving 18 years.

Moller testified that 81 calls had been made between Gouws and Monye and 19 SMSes sent between them, before and after the murder.

There were also 31 calls between Pieterse and Du Plessis and 17 calls between Pieterse and Monye after the murder. Gouws tried to make a call to Pieterse – who was referred to as “Tattoo” – on November 4, but was unsuccessful, Moller testified.

He said Gouws’s calls were transmitted from the Cabana Glen cellphone tower in the Faerie Glen area.

A Bantam bakkie, believed to belong to Gouws, was spotted on CCTV cameras not far from Chanelle Henning’s Faerie Glen home days before she was killed.

Moller said he took photographs of the bakkie after it was seized by police, together with a BMW motorbike allegedly used in the hit, to ensure it was the same vehicle as the one on the CCTV cameras.

The vehicle had the same marks as that captured on the surveillance cameras, he said.

“The bakkie was captured on surveillance cameras between 2.45pm and 2.47pm in the vicinity of Nevada Crescent and Manitoba Drive on November 4,” said Moller.

Moller also told the court that the police analysed bank accounts and some transactions of Gouws.

A total of R30 000 was paid by Gouws Joubert Makelaars into one of Gouws’s accounts, R10 000 was paid to Monye from one of Gouws’s accounts, but it was not clear what the amount was for. A phone call was made to Monye after the funds had been withdrawn, he said.

A cash withdrawal of R44 000 was made on the day of the murder in Centurion, he added.

Earlier, investigating officer Petrus van der Spuy told the court that Gouws had indicated that he was good friends with Nico Henning, but Nico had denied this, saying there was not “much interactive communication” between them. - Pretoria News

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