37 killings: Cops want tests

2003-09-15 08:42

Zoubair Ayoob

Cape Town - Police have yet to link a man who claims to have murdered 37 women, to any killings.

The 39-year-old man was arrested in Avoca, Durban, last week after he told his employer he had murdered several prostitutes.

The employer, who installs security cameras and other similar equipment, called police who arrested the man.

During questioning the man confessed to killing 37 women, mostly prostitutes, in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg.

He allegedly said he would continue killing if he was not helped.

If his claim is true, this will be the most murders by a single person in South Africa.

The Durban serious and violent crimes unit has contacted police in Cape Town and Johannesburg to verify the man's claims.

Superintendent Anton Booysen said on Sunday Cape Town police had so far cleared the man of murders he allegedly committed in the Mother City.

"At this stage, he has not been linked to any serial killings there," said Booysen.

A response from Johannesburg police is still awaited.

Denies raping his victims

Booysen said the man has been linked to only one murder so far - that of a woman whose body was found on Durban's Battery Beach earlier this year.

A daggerfound in the man's home when he was arrested was taken to be tested.

Booysen said that while the man admitted to killing the women, he did not admit to raping them.

"He said he had consensual sex with some of the victims, after which he murdered them.

He refuses to admit to rape and gets upset if you suggest it to him," he said.

Booysen said he would ask for the man to be referred for a full psychiatric evaluation while investigations into his claims continued.

"We have to investigate to the full. We have to question his motives for making the confession," said Booysen. The man is a labourer who fixes small appliances.

Superintendent Vishnu Naidoo agreed, saying any claims made by an accused person, information received from the public or other allegations made to police had to be tested before being accepted.

- The Witness