Cop killers linked to doomsday cult
2011-01-18 22:37
-
Police
A 'behind the scenes' look at how the emergency services work.
Now R255.95
buy now
Sutherland - The French couple who shot dead a police officer on Friday on the farm Hardie, about 24km outside Sutherland, and wounded another, had apparently become stranger by the day and even seemed "demonic".
Philippe Meniére, 60, shot Student Constable Jacob Boleme, 27, at point blank range. His life partner, Agnes Jardel, wounded Warrant Officer Glenwall du Toit, 42, in the back when he and two colleagues tried to flee.
The four police officials had a warrant to look for possible illegal firearms.
Apparently Meniére and Jardel were members of the Ramtha cult which originated in the US, and tried to involve the farm owner and his family in it.
The owner, Gerhardus du Plessis, wanted them off the farm because he started fearing for his family's safety, says his daughter-in-law, Jolene du Plessis.
According to her, they pestered her father-in-law to build an underground shelter for them.
"According to the Ramtha cult, the world will end in 2012. They believed they had to stockpile at least two years' food supplies.
Withdrew
"My father-in-law let them stay on the farm for free out of the goodness of his heart, but in time they became dissatisfied with everything," said Jolene.
"They withdrew from society, but still fed off it.
"At our wedding two years ago they kept talking about the 'third eye'. It made us feel uncomfortable. They regularly held trance music dance festivals on the farm, played memory games and practiced telepathy. They wore black capes and Agnes had a black cat."
Jolene said the Meniéres know the farm well. "For the past 10 years they lived here in isolation without electricity, cellphones or computers."
"They're used to surviving," said Cobus du Plessis, the owner’s oldest son. "The cult and their lifestyle made them tough.
"No-one in town knew them, since during the past four years they almost never came to town," Jolene said.
"It's only our family who knew a little bit about them. Cobus and I often visited the French couple on the farm.
Intimidating
"We had lovely conversations about philosophy with them. They are intelligent people and had interesting perspectives, not all of which we agreed with.
"I was never really comfortable around Philippe. I found him intimidating. It was as if he was constantly trying to read my thoughts.
"I often chatted to Agnes and went walking in the veld with her. She told me a little bit about her work in the advertising industry.
"She's a very creative person. I always felt that she was starved for company."
According to Jolene, Jardel used to be a beautiful woman who "gestured a lot when she spoke" and loved red wine. "Two years ago at our wedding she danced the night away.
"They both have dark eyes, which have become very intense over the past two years. They started avoiding us more and more. The deeper they were sucked into the cult, the more isolated they became.
"My father-in-law was worried about them because they kept losing weight, as if they had no food. He offered to help them find work, but they didn't want his help. They didn't help out on the farm either.
"Philippe once said intelligent people don't have to work."
According to Jolene, the couple became stranger as time went by. "Their eyes became demonic. They became arrogant and aggressive."
On the run
Meanwhile, the "killer couple" are still missing.
The police suspect that they're hiding in the inhospitable Roggeveld Mountains near Sutherland.
"We suspect they're still in the area which stretches across a few thousand square kilometres," Hendrik Swart, police spokesperson for the Northern Cape, said on Tuesday from Kimberley.
"We're still searching the area where they fled to, since they wouldn't have got to far on foot. The search will also include neighbouring farms, where there are several empty houses."