Ex-stripper tells of love affair with Montecasino murder victim

The stripper, before she began her testimony, requested and got a court order granted by Judge Delize Smith that her name not be published due to personal reasons.

The matter was being heard in the Gauteng South High Court sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court.

Robinson and JP Malan are accused of killing Blom, and dumping his body in the boot of his car before leaving it at Montecasino, in Fourways, Johannesburg. The car was discovered days later by security staff after they noticed a foul smell coming from the car.

Once seated, prosecutor Zaais Van Zyl asked the former stripper whether she knew Blom, to which she replied "Yes".

"I started working at the Penthouse at August 26 2013, and met him [Blom] on September 3," the former stripper, tall and wearing a black jacket and skirt, told the court.

"On the 5th of September my ex-fiancé started threatening me. He had just come out of a mental institution and on that day Dustan and another dancer asked if I would go out with them."

She said this was the first time she had agreed to go out with a client.

When she met Blom in his car, Blom told the former stripper that Robinson was staying at his home.

"I said I would not like to go to his home because I do not like her and I do not want to see her," the former stripper said.

They went to Montecasino, and stayed the night, with Blom dropping her off at home at 10:00 the next day.

Blom again saw the former stripper on September 5, and on September 8, a Sunday, she told the court that her and Blom went on their first date.

"We went on our first date...," the former stripper told the court, and later that night, "for the first time we made love".

Van Zyl asked her whether dancers were allowed to get that friendly with patrons, with the former stripper replying that, "It's club policy to not get involved with the patrons".

Video footage

Earlier, Clinton Vigne, the assistant surveillance manager at Montecasino showed the court footage from the entertainment complex's security system, where both Robinson and Malan were seen in the casino just after midnight on September 19.

The pair, while at the casino, drew a total of R26 500 on Blom's bank card, which Robinson had access too including the pin number.

The pair initially drew R10 000 and played slots at the high roller section of the casino for around 15 minutes, where they lost R1 199, before going back to a separate cash desk and drawing a total of R16 500, in two transactions of R1 500, and R15 000.

During the showing of video footage, Malan's counsel JP Marais objected to the video footage of the transactions being shown, asking as to their relevance since his client had already pleaded guilty to the transactions made on Blom's card.

Prosecutor Steven Rubin, leading Vigne in his evidence, told Judge Delize Smith that the murder charges was still in dispute, as was that of aggravated robbery, with the footage leading towards that. The footage showed Robinson and Malan appearing intimate with one another, and high-fiving each other at one point

Vigne then showed footage time-stamped 13:55 on September 19 2013, where Blom's brown Nissan is seen driving into the general parking lot of Montecasino.

"It entered the level 4 parking area, which was also the level where the vehicle was found on September 22 2013," Vigne said.

"Unfortunately on the levels where the cars park we don't have any cameras."

During Vigne's evidence, both Robinson and Malan were intently focused on what was being shown on the screen, with the pair sitting noticeably apart from one another.

Having assessed all the footage between September 19, when Malan and Robinson were in the casino, to September 22, when Blom's car was dropped off, Vigne did not find any further evidence of the pair being present at the entertainment complex.

The driver of Blom's car could not be seen in the camera footage. However, Malan has already plead guilty to being the one who drove Blom's car to Montecasino, with Blom in the boot, and leaving it there.

Author : Adam Wakefield, News24

(File Photo: Gallo Images)