More blood spilled in steroid king murder trial

THE murder trial of slain steroid king Brian Wainstein got back under way in the Western Cape High Court on Monday just weeks after another co-accused was gunned down in the bloody saga.

For the first time since alleged underworld boss Jerome “Donkie” Booysen and his co-accused last appeared in the dock, the court officially received the death certificate of former accused Andre Naudé, who was shot dead in Parow last month.

Naudé became the fifth man linked to the case to be killed, following the murders of Mark Lifman, William “Red” Stevens, Anthony van der Watt and Jason Maits between 2021 and 2024.

Despite the mounting body count, the show went on as the court kicked off a trial-within-a-trial to deal with intercepted phone calls related to a drug syndicate the State claims was being run by Booysen and several others.

While investigating the alleged drug network, cops stumbled on bombshell information that linked the suspects to Wainstein’s 2017 assassination and the ongoing battle for control over Cape Town’s lucrative nightclub security scene.

The defence previously tried to block the calls and transcripts from being submitted as evidence, but the court ruled that the audio recordings will be played in full.

The court heard testimony from a police officer who spoke about the long-running investigation into what they called “the brotherhood,” a group they say includes Jerome, his brother Colin Booysen, the late Lifman, Naudé, and others.

They told the court they transcribed 10 of 38 intercepted calls, but admitted some were difficult to understand because of heavy gang slang and poor audio quality.

The high-stakes trial continues on Tuesday.