Hotel fire: Student was murdered
2009-02-15 12:10
Willem Pelser, Julian Jansen and Lizané Louw
Cape Town - Police have confirmed that they are investigating a charge of murder regarding the death of Stellenbosch student Emile "Ducati" Maartens, 21, whose body was found in his charred hotel room, a week ago.
His room was the only one in the hotel to have caught fire and be completely destroyed.
Police are investigating whether he was murdered by one or more people with links to the West Coast drug trade.
Maartens had head wounds and it was thought that he might have been hit over the head. There was also a lot of blood on the scene.
Maartens' body was found a few hours after he went to buy airtime at a Shell garage near the hotel. He had a conversation with a man, which was recorded by CCTV cameras.
The investigation continues.