The merciless killers of top crime intelligence unit officer Captain Carrim Alli are in jail today, waiting to be sentenced.The Pretoria High Court on Wednesday revoked their bail after convicting suspended police sergeant Isa Mohammed and his business partner Tienie de Bruyn of Alli's murder. Alli's friends and family clapped as the two, cuffed to each other, were led down to the cells.
De Bruyn's girlfriend, Jean-Marie Theron, cried bitterly as she hugged him in the dock. She told the media that she believed in his innocence and that they would definitely appeal the judgment. But Judge Ronnie Bosielo said the State had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the two were responsible for his death. A petrol bomb was hurled at his car on the night of October 3 2004 along the dark Wallmannsthal Road.
He was found lying about 500m from his bullet-ridden State vehicle. Alli suffered 100 percent burns but was able to tell people on the scene that his killer was Isa Mohammed, even giving them the details of his police handler.
Alli's brother Shahid became hysterical during this stage of the judgment and had to be removed from the public gallery by family members. They said he had been extremely traumatised by Alli's death.
Bosielo said it was clear the only two people who had a motive to kill Alli were the accused. The reason for the killing was that Alli was investigating unlawful activities within the police regarding the awarding of tenders. Mohammed and de Bruyn ran a company which supplied office equipment and stationery to the police at inflated prices after manipulating the invoices.
Bosielo said Mohammed feared that Alli would stumble across the scam, which would mean a great deal of trouble for him and De Bruyn. Mohammed decided that Alli had to be eliminated and he and De Bruyn planned the murder in detail, the judge said.
He added that they went out of their way to gather the necessary "instruments" to kill him, such as petrol, a firearm and bullets. "I find that both accused were on the scene when Alli was shot at and his car set alight," the judge said. Bosielo said it was clear from the evidence that De Bruyn knowingly and freely associated himself with Mohammed's plan to kill Alli. De Bruyn dumped the firearm, which was later linked to the crime scene, and a farm worker identified a vehicle he had seen along the road shortly before Alli's car went up in flames as the 4x4 belonging to De Bruyn.
Bosielo disregarded Mohammed's claims that Alli was investigating a scam involving "black dollars" and top SAPS brass as untrue. Mohammed maintained that he had asked Alli to investigate the "black dollar" scam and that he had gathered sensitive information which he gave Alli on the night of the murder. Mohammed had claimed that they were due to meet Director Nasser Mohammed and the owner of Yemini airlines, Rashid Ebrahim, that night to discuss the scam in which he claimed they were involved. Instead, two Nigerians arrived at the meeting place to tell them the director and Rashid could not make it.
Mohammed's version of events was that he left Alli with the Nigerians and headed home. That was the last time he had seen him alive, he said. Mohammed said the director and Ebrahim planned on offering him and Alli money not to proceed with the "black dollars" investigation.
Meanwhile, Alli's brother Ismail said after the judgment that the truth had not come out yet. He said the accused were small fry taking the rap for rich Indian businessmen. Ismail said he and his family were being threatened but he did not want to divulge "the true version" of the matter at this stage.