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Axe murderer's uncle killed
20/02/2006 08:45 - (SA)
Virginia Keppler, Beeld
Pretoria - Axe murderer Madeleen Bredenhann's uncle's body was found hanging from a tree on his farm near Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria.
Ludwig Wambach, 65, had injuries to his face and body, said police spokesperson inspector Paul Ramaloki. It was not known whether he had been killed before he was hanged.
Bredenhann received two life sentences for axing to death her mother, Elmarie Bredenhann, 59, and grandmother, Albertina Wambach, 89, in their beds in Dorandia, Pretoria North in 2002.
During the trial Bredenhann tried to shift the blame to Wambach.
She alleged Wambach and one of his sons, Dieter, were the killers. Wambach sen threatened to kill her should she say something about the gruesome murder, she testified.
She gave this version of the murder only after she had been arrested. She alleged she had failed to reveal Wambach's involvement because she had been too traumatised and under the influence of medication to do so earlier.
Judge Chris Botha ruled that this version was "cooked up to get her out of trouble".
Of Wambach sen he said: "Despite his idiosyncrasies and the discrepancies in his testimony, I cannot imagine him in the role of an attacker."
Pistol was missing
Dieter Wambach and a worker found his father's body on Friday afternoon on the farm Sterkwater near Bultfontein. His bakkie was found abandoned in the veld, but his pistol was missing.
Ramaloki said Wambach's gardener had put the police on the trail of the suspects.
"He (the gardener) said Wambach some time ago had an argument with two men who illegally cut wood on his farm. Wambach laid a charge of tresspassing at the police and the men were arrested."
"The police arrested one of the men in the area during a raid on Sunday. The suspect was in possession of Wambach's pistol. The man was expected to plead guilty in front of a magistrate on Monday."
Ramaloko said police were close to catching the second suspect.
Ludwig Wambach jun didn't want to say much about his father's death. "We are going through his documents to sort them out," he said. "I can't really tell you what had happened here," he said.
No funeral arrangements have been made, since police still needed to do tests on the body.
- Beeld
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