Cape Town man killed after online date
2013-03-06 09:41
Cape Town - A gay man from Sea Point was reportedly killed
over the weekend after he went on a date with someone he had met over the
internet.
The body of Graham Flax, 65, was found under a duvet in the
corridor outside his flat in the Costa Bravo apartment building, reported Die
Burger.
His friend, Atol McLaggan, said Flax had gone to meet
someone, but wasn't sure if it was a friend or a date. He added that Flax often
went on internet dates.
A police spokesperson said Flax had suffered a hard knock
to the head.
Screams
“Residents of the building heard how he screamed: ‘Let me go!
Let me go!" at about 02:40 on Saturday morning," said Captain
Frederick van Wyk.
A laptop and cellphone had been stolen from the flat, which
was not locked.
Police said the murder could not be linked to the murders of
eight other gay men in Gauteng, but said there were similarities in the cases.
A man had apparently handed himself over in connection with
Flax’s murder and was still to appear in court.
McLaggan said Flax was a soft target. "He had poor
vision and he was one of those men who grew up in a community where
homosexuality was suppressed. I think it often appears as though older men have
money."
Flax was retired and worked as a volunteer at the Jacob
Gitlin library. He had moved down to Cape Town from Johannesburg over year ago.
“I can understand that the kind of dates that Graham went on
made him vulnerable to robbery. But to be attacked with so much violence, that
I don’t understand,” said McLaggan.
