|
Kids 'axed pal for R5, raisins'
30/05/2007 23:33 - (SA)
Llewellyn Prince, Die Burger
Klawer - Two children are alleged to have called their friends to see the blood-covered body of an eight-year-old school buddy, after killing him with a home-made axe for R5 and some raisins.
The gruesome murder of Wilfred Kriel has stunned the community of Klawer near Vredendal, because "nothing like that has ever happened here".
The two suspected of being responsible for the killing - boys aged seven and 12 in foster care - appeared in court at Vanrhynsdorp for the second time on Wednesday.
The case was expected to be moved to the children's court at Vredendal on Thursday. The children are being held in a place of safety.
The murdered boy's weeping parents, Klaas Jooste and Anna Kriel, related how, a year after the death from illness of their youngest child, they now also had lost Wilfred.
Digging grave for his brother
The family lives on Rosendal farm, a few kilometres from Nieuwoodt Primary School.
Wilfred walked there every day with his cousins, but he stayed for extra lessons on Monday, and had to walk home alone.
Jobrey, 18, the family's eldest son, was digging a grave for "their baby" about 100m from the family's home on the farm when Die Burger visited on Wednesday.
Wilfred's grave will be next to the stone-covered one of his sister, Chrizelda.
A post-mortem on Wilfred's body was being conducted in Paarl this week. He was to be buried on Saturday "if everything goes to plan".
Wilfred's parents said they first heard of his murder after work on Monday.
His mother cried: "My heart is breaking. He was such a joyful, playful child. When he got ready for school on Monday he insisted on wearing his thongs."
"After that he went and stood in the doorway, and threw on a white scarf. His father wanted to know why he wanted to wear a white scarf, but he just said 'Bye, mom, 'bye dad.' "
Kriel said three of her five children had died, leaving only Jobrey and her 17-year-old daughter, Leana.
Florence Koerkop, station commander of Klawer police station, said the two suspects had lured Wilfred into the bushes behind the Eikevlei residential area "on the pretext that they wanted to sell him a pair of Grasshopper shoes, which are very much in fashion at Klawer, for R10".
"There, they bound his feet with a dog chain, murdered him with the axe and a fan belt and went to wash their hands in a nearby canal.
"After that, they returned to the body, and played and drew in the sand, before fetching the other children."
Had caused problems before
"These children told an adult, who called the police. The 12-year-old at first denied everything, but was arrested when blood was found on one of his shoes.
He claimed Wilfred owed them R5, but the seven-year-old said everything was about some raisins."
John Cloete, acting headmaster, said the 12-year-old had caused problems at the school a number of times and was the type of bully who mixed regularly with younger children.
The seven-year-old was in Wilfred's class and they regularly played together.
|
