Postmortem expected to be vital in case against Miguel Louw's killer

A postmortem examination of the decomposed remains of slain Sydenham schoolboy Miguel Louw may be the smoking gun in what is essentially a circumstantial case against his alleged killer Mohammed Ebrahim.

It is likely to form the bedrock of the state’s case in proving that Miguel Louw was killed on the day that he disappeared - July 17 - the last time the schoolboy was seen alive and in the company of Ebrahim.

Nearly two months after he vanished, the nine-year-old’s body was discovered in a thicket near Longbury Drive in Phoenix, less than 100m from Ebrahim’s family home.

Investigating officer Rajan Govender testified on Wednesday that a forensic pathologist who examined the remains had found that the boy had likely been killed and dumped soon after he was abducted. 

"From the postmortem the pathologist concluded that the approximate time of death predated the discovery by more than four weeks.

"Looking at the state of decomposition and weather patterns in the area preceding discovery, the time matches the period after which the deceased was last seen with the applicant [Ebrahim]," he said.

Govender added that an examination of Ebrahim’s cellphone revealed that in the days following Louw’s disappearance, he had not returned home to Phoenix.

Triangulation using cellphone towers, Govender said, had placed Ebrahim somewhere in the Durban city centre for three days before he was arrested.

In piecing together the moments that led to Miguel’s disappearance, investigators found that Ebrahim had entered the boy's life as an acquaintance of his mother, Raylene. The two worked at the same butchery.

Ebrahim lived with the family at their Sydenham home for two weeks before having an altercation with Raylene over what Govender described as "unwanted romantic advances" from Ebrahim. 

When he was first arrested‚ Ebrahim was found in possession of Miguel’s original birth certificate and Raylene’s identity document.

His bail application continues.