William Booth attempted murder case postponed to March

Former rugby player and private investigator Zane Killian made a quick appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court with four other people accused of attempting to murder well-known Cape Town lawyer William Booth.

His arrival, in the same checked shirt with cut off sleeves that he wore for his bail application in Bellville Regional Court on Tuesday for the murder of Anti-Gang Unit detective Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear, was low key.

He joined Kim Smith, Kauther Brown, Ibrahim Deare, and Riyaad Gasant.

The State alleges they are involved in the activities of a Woodstock gang the Terrible Westsiders, in violation of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

They face charges of conspiring to murder Booth. Charges have been withdrawn against two other people initially arrested in the Booth case.

Killian also faces charges of violation of telecommunications laws with regard to his alleged tracking of Booth via a “pinging” service he uses to track cellphones.

Smith was on bail when she was convicted in January of possession of the drug crystal methamphetamine, known colloquially as Tik.

During sentencing, the court heard that the single mother of three had been through a difficult time, caring for her children after being retrenched, and the death of her mother. She had been clean for a year and relapsed shortly after her mother’s death, after spending time with mourners.

She was given the option of paying a R1,000 fine, or spending six months in prison.

Booth was shot at in his garage in Cape Town in April, and arrests were made after photographs of the suspected hit people were released.

Killian was later joined to that case because of his alleged tracking of Booth via a “pinging” service which tracks cellphones.

The court heard in December that he merely uses this for the debt collection service he offers while usually based in Springs, Gauteng.

He said he obtained access to the service from a former policeman Bradley Goldblatt and did not know that Booth was being pinged.

In his bail application at the Bellville Regional Court on Tuesday, the State alleged in its affidavit opposing his release on bail, that he actually carried out a massive surveillance operation with the pings, credit record searches, Google address, and Google Maps searches.

This is based on deleted WhatsApps the investigators say they retrieved from his devices after his arrest in Springs on 23 September after the murder of Kinnear in broad daylight as he arrived home from work on Friday 18 September.

The link to Booth appears to be because one of Booth’s clients Sameer Vallie had laid a complaint of kidnap and extortion with the police, based on an affidavit submitted by investigation officers in the Kinnear case.

According to the affidavit presented by prosecutor Greg Wolmarans, the attempt at murdering Booth was made on 9 April 2020 around 7:10 at his home.

After checking the date, the police allege that Killian pinged Booth from 6 March to the day Kinnear was killed.

The Booth case was postponed to 10 March.

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