Tearful widow tells of robbery

2008-08-27 09:43

Fanie van Rooyen

Pretoria - "I can't stop shaking and crying," said an elderly woman from Riviera in Pretoria, after three armed men shot and killed her husband, who had been sitting next to her in bed, early on Monday morning.

"It's dreadful and indescribable.

"I'm still in shock and can't believe it happened," said the 65-year-old woman, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of further attacks.

Her husband was a well-known civil engineer in Gauteng, who had worked on Sandton City and the Michelangelo Towers.

Police spokesperson Captain Malose Mashiane said on Tuesday that the three men apparently gained access to the couple's property through shrubbery, part of which borders the Union Buildings.

"There isn't a fence or a wall between the shrubbery and the couple's property," Mashiane said.

"The three men then presumably gained access to the house through a bathroom window. They switched on the lights in the house, which woke the elderly couple," he said.

The men, who were armed with pistols, then entered the bedroom.

'No!'

"My husband sat up with a fright and said, 'What now?'," the woman said.

"The next moment one of them lifted his pistol.

"My husband shouted, 'No!' and then the robber shot him on the left side of his chest. It's terrible. He shot him before they said or asked anything."

Mashiane said the robbers then asked the woman where she and her husband kept their money, laptops and jewellery.

"The robbers took all the woman's rings off her fingers, tied her up with rope and fled on foot about 45 minutes later, taking a TV set and more jewellery," Mashiane said.

The police are investigating a case of housebreaking and murder. No one has been arrested yet.

"It's so sad; we were looking forward to celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary in December," the woman said.

- Beeld