The state’s fourth witness, Col Lambertus Steyn, testified on Thursday that during cellphone download tracking the activity on Kelly Khumalo’s phone he found a “device boot-up” of the device had occurred on October 27 2014, a day after Senzo Meyiwa was murdered.
The device boot-up was at about 1.31 am, several hours after the murder.
Testifying before the high court in Pretoria, Steyn said this could mean the owner of the phone deleted some or all of the information on the device.
“Because it is a smartphone, you can do it via the internet where you can access your phone and delete some of the information. It’s not necessary for you to have your phone in your hand [when deleting],” he said.
This was the phone number Steyn testified was called by Sifisokuhle Nkani Ntuli, one of five individuals charged with Meyiwa’s murder. Ntuli allegedly called Khumalo’s number on August 2, 2014, and again on October 15, 2014, just days before Meyiwa’s murder.
Steyn said the phone was Ricad in her name and registered on the app True Caller as “Kelly Khumalo bookings,” expressing confidence that it belonged to Khumalo.
Steyn testified in court that data retrieved from the phone proved no calls to police were made from the device the night Meyiwa died.
He stated that he has no idea when the phone was confiscated by cops.
Ntuli and four others are on trial for Meyiwa’s murder in October 2014.
He was shot dead in front of Khumalo at her mother’s house in Vosloorus. Kelly’s sister Zandile, her boyfriend Longwe Twala, the women’s mother Ntombi Khumalo, and two of Meyiwa’s friends who were visiting from KwaZulu-Natal were also there at the time of the murder.
According to the residents, Meyiwa was killed by one of two invaders who barged into the house demanding smartphones and money.
Full Story Source: Witness Tells Court Kelly Khumalo’s Phone Memory Was ‘Wiped’ Hours After Meyiwa’s Murder