4 slain: Suspect tries suicide
2003-10-31 08:26
Heidelberg - After a day of drama outside Heidelberg Hospital, police eventually arrested a man in connection with the gruesome murder of four young adults and a toddler on Wednesday.
A 23-year-old man, the former fiancé of one of the victims, was arrested after police shot him in both shoulders after hours of negotiations.
Senior superintendent Boates Botha, the investigating officer, said the man's condition was stable. He was being treated in Natalspruit Hospital, east of Johannesburg.
Thursday's drama unfolded outside Heidelberg Hospital where the suspect threatened to kill himself with a carving knife. The ground around him was covered in blood after he cut his wrists and his leg.
Police hostage negotiators tried for about three hours to calm the man down and arrest him.
About 14:00 he plunged the knife into his chest in a bid to commit suicide.
Tore the arm muscles
When this happened, inspector Anton Coetzee fired two shots and hit the man in each shoulder.
The policeman's aim had been to tear the suspect's arm muscles "so he would let go of the knife".
Botha gave Coetzee the order to shoot ''otherwise he (the suspect) would have been dead. It was not a nice decision, but it was our only option''.
Provincial commander for the serious crime unit, director Eric Roos, said he had given the unit an order to use force to arrest the man.
"Four people are dead. We couldn't take chances."
Lizmarie Minny, 19, Abrie Greyling, 21, Helouise van der Westhuizen, 23, and her three-year-old son, Donovan, were stabbed to death on Wednesday.
Blood on the carpet and on the bathroom floor was mute testimony on Thursday to Greyling's final moments.
He was apparently stabbed in the passage and then dragged into the bathroom.
It is not clear who the next victim was or in what order they were murdered.
Tied to her bed
It appears, however, that Minny was the last to be killed because the murder weapon was found next to her body.
She was naked and tied to her bed's headrest. Her legs were bound with cable. It is not clear yet whether she was raped.
Blood splatters on the walls and knife marks in the door were an indication of how violently she died.
The suspect's parents and other family were at the house on Thursday, but were too shocked to speak to the media.