Dad killed at Xmas tree

2005-12-14 22:26

Eduan Roos

Johannesburg - A Midrand man has been shot dead at the family's Christmas tree while his wife and two young sons were tied up and helpless in another room.

Phillip Nash, 47, and his wife, Lynette, and their two sons were overpowered about 23:00 on Tuesday by three armed men.

Inspector Cynthia Kleinhans said the robbers apparently entered through a sliding door.

"They tied up the woman and her two sons in one of the rooms," she said.

"We suspect Nash went to the lounge, where he struggled with one of the attackers and got shot.

"He died moments later."

She said the suspects were armed with pistols and fled with an unknown amount of cash, cellphones and jewellery.

Lynette managed to free herself and the children from the wire with which they had been tied up and went to look for help.

Note

The police were still combing the house on Wednesday for clues that could lead to the arrest of the suspects.

On Wednesday a note to clients at the salon where Lynette worked bore silent witness to the previous night's murder.

"The salon will be closed for a few days as a result of a personal tragedy," read the note on the gate to the house.

"Sorry I didn't call you, but I don't have a phone," it said.

A reliable source said Nash was shot more than once at close range and that his body was found near the Christmas tree.

An emotional Christine Walter, Lynette's sister, said the sons were badly traumatised.

"Phillip was for them like 'a father of the year'," she said.

"It's horrible that the family had to go through this.

"Lynnette managed, probably as a result of adrenalin and shock, to untie herself and the boys and get help." Lynette was too shocked to talk to the media on Wednesday.

"They just want to be left alone to cope with their loss," said Walter.

A neighbour of the Nash family said she had heard an alarm going off, but was too scared to go and look.

"Residents in this area live in fear and alarms go off so often that it is not strange anymore," she said.

Her own home was recently burgled, she said.

- Beeld