Cellphones key to evidence

CELLPHONES evidence is fast becoming a linchpin in murder trials across South Africa.

In recent months, lawyers and prosecutors have relied on cellphone evidence to shine light on the truth.

In one case, gardener Themba Hemp, 48, who murdered Theescombe resident Hester van der Berg, 70, in 2011, was proved wrong through cellphone evidence when he said he was in Worcester at the time of the murder.

His cellphone records showed he was in Port Elizabeth.

Hemp was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Tuesday.

At present, the most prominent case in which cellphone evidence is being used is in the trial in the North Gauteng High Court of paralympian Oscar Pistorious.

Well-known Port Elizabeth lawyer Danie Gouws said cellphone evidence could be a useful tool, but only if it was used correctly.

“It can help solve crimes. However, it must be weighed up against the right to privacy of the accused as it is enshrined in our constitution,” Gouws said.

Vodacom spokeswoman Ashleigh Dubbelman said the network would disclose information if requested by a relevant law enforcement agency.

“The law enforcement agencies will also need to follow the correct procedures that are laid out in the legislation that makes provision for the legal disclosure of information.

“As part of this, Vodacom can be subpoenaed to appear in court to give evidence relating to the information,” Dubbelman explained.

In the case of Pistorious, accused of murdering Port Elizabeth model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, SMSes between the two led as court evidence portrayed Pistorious as jealous and controlling. Steenkamp said in one text: “I am scared of u (sic) sometimes and how you snap at me and how u will react to me.”

It has been reported that detectives were at Apple’s headquarters in California attempting to unlock the secrets in the encrypted content stored on the 27-year-old athlete’s devices.

Danny Myburgh, managing director of computer forensic firm Cyanre, confirmed that Apple experts had helped the police.

Myburgh is quoted as saying: “With the software upgrades we provided them they were able to access large portions of the phones’ data.”

In a third case, Serusha Ince, a supervisor from Vodacom’s law enforcement support unit, was called to testify in the Port Elizabeth High Court recently in the trial of schoolteacher Mutshutshu Milton Mvhango, 31, for murder.

He stands accused of murdering Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University student Tshepiso Sithole.

A computer cable was tied around her neck and her body was already in a state of decomposition when found.

Ince testified that a cellphone belonging to Muvhango had been detected at Johannesburg Park bus station on June 16 2011, and then in Port Elizabeth between June 17 and June 24 that year.

By June 25 the cellphone, belonging to Muvhango, was back in Gauteng.

Mvhango is alleged to have followed Sithole around the country.

A Port Elizabeth police detective, who asked to remain anonymous, said technology was proving useful in criminal cases.

“It does help,” he said.