Attacker kills parrot too
2008-04-23 09:11
Lichtenburg - Police suspect an escaped murder suspect who was believed to have gruesomely tortured a slightly-built woman at Ottoshoop in March before murdering her, was involved in the farm murder of a couple on Monday outside Lichtenburg.
The police were investigating this possibility after Phillip Moremi, 29, and a burglary suspect, escaped from the Ottoshoop police cells on Sunday afternoon at about 17:00
Beeld heard from a reliable source that Moremi was out on parole and should therefore have been in jail and not held in police cells.
At, 60, and Katrien Deysel, 56, were brutally murdered on Monday night on their farm between Lichtenburg and Ottoshoop.
'We won't leave it there'
The bodies of the couple, who had been married for 40 years, were discovered on Monday by a neighbour.
Katrien had been shot inside the house.
At the time of going to press the police could not confirm whether she had also been raped.
Her husband's body was found some distance from the house behind a pile of stones.
His throat was slit.
The murderers also killed one of the couple's dogs as well as Pietie, Katrien's tame Ringneck parrot.
Four firearms and a cellphone were stolen.
The neighbour earlier saw the couple's bakkie next to the road and became suspicious because it had apparently been involved in a collision.
A retired mineworker
Meat and a television set were found on the back of the bakkie.
Blood was also found inside the bakkie.
"He so loved this place. That is why my father, after years of working in the mines, returned here, where he grew up."
This was according to Theresa de Abreu, the murdered couple's oldest daughter, on Tuesday.
At was a retired mineworker who for the greater part of his life worked at the Vaal Reefs mine near Orkney.
"My parents never bothered anyone. They only wanted a peaceful retirement. They lived for their animals and their garden. My father knew the name of every animal, every plant, every bird and tree. He was a walking encyclopaedia."
"My mother and father did not use labourers, but did everything themselves. It is still so unreal. It is so unnecessary", De Abreu said on Tuesday.
"We are definitely not going to leave the matter here. Those people should not have had the chance to murder again. Our mother was a delicate, fragile woman."
The couple are survived by five children and eight grandchildren.
At the time of going to press on Tuesday night, police members of the North West helicopter unit, the dog squads from Stilfontein and Potchefstroom and police members from Lichtenburg, Mafikeng and Delareyville were busy combing the bushy terrain for clues and the murderers.
Inspector Carina Fourie, police spokesperson, gave the assurance that the search for the suspects would continue.
Moremi is also suspected of being involved in another burglary after he escaped on Sunday night, as well as the murder of Zaiboon Jeena, 61, in Ottoshoop in March.
She was raped, burnt with a clothes iron, stabbed with a knife and her fingers were broken.