JUSTICE BUT NO PEACE

Two men have been found guilty of murdering Jesse Hess and her grandfather, but the convictions bring her father little comfort

- KIM ABRAHAMS

HIS home is as neat as a pin. The kitchen counters are spick and span, there's not a dirty dish in sight and a spicy scent wafts through the flat as incense burns in the bedroom. Ever since he lost his daughter, Lance Hess cleans his home obsessively.

"It helps me deal with things. If I sit still, my mind runs wild but when I'm busy, it helps me think clearly," he says.

His daughter, Jesse Hess, was murdered in the flat she shared with her maternal grandfather, Chris Lategan (85) in Parow, Cape Town, in August 2019. The 18-year-old University of the Western Cape student was raped and killed and her granddad also lost his life in a crime that made national headlines.

For Lance, there's at least a measure of justice now that the men who committed the deeds are behind bars, but it's been a hellish rollercoaster.

Jesse's second cousin, David van Boven, was recently convicted of the double murder in the Western Cape high court. During the trial it emerged the 33-yearold sexually assaulted Jesse before smothering her. He then stuffed a sock and pillowcase in her mouth before taping it closed and strangling her with a belt.

Van Boven used a belt to choke Chris to death too, tying it so tightly the veins in his face ruptured. Van Boven and his co-accused, Tasliem Ambrose, also stole cellphones, two TVs, rings and a laptop.

Memories of Jesse are all over her heartbroken dad's home in Bellville, Cape Town.

Van Boven was also convicted of two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances, sexual assault, fraud and theft; while Ambrose (39) was found guilty on two counts of robbery with aggravating circumstances.

The convictions offer him little comfort, Lance says. Not only has he lost his precious child but the crime has had a devastating impact on his life in many ways.