Cops mum on double murder
2006-04-25 10:37
Cape Town - Police remain tight-lipped about their investigation into the motives for the assassination-style murders of Richard Bloom and Brett Goldin, refusing to be drawn into speculation on whether the killings were the result of a drug transaction that went wrong, an initiation into a gang, or bias against homosexuals.
"We are investigating all possibilities, and not only robbery,"
police superintendent Billy Jones was willing to admit.
Two men, aged 20 and 25, who were taken in for questioning in Rondebosch East late on Sunday night in connection with the murders, were released on Monday afternoon after being questioned all day.
Jones did not confirm whether police were satisfied the men had nothing to do with the murders.
Arrests
Police have arrested nine people since last Sunday morning. One of them was Anuschka Anthony, a 22-year-old woman. They have all appeared in court.
The naked bodies of Bloom and Goldin were found last Monday morning in an open field next to a highway off-ramp in the Rondebosch area. They were last seen alive in Camps Bay on Saturday night. Both were shot execution-style in the back of the head.
Were victims buying drugs?
The police didn't want to confirm that the two men had drawn money to buy drugs before they were killed. The results of their blood tests are also
being kept secret.
According to Glenn de Swart of the gay group the Triangle Project, it is
possible a combination of a drug transaction, gang involvement and
homophobia might have provided a motive for the murder.
"The link between gangs and homophobia definitely exists. Gang members are very patriarchal and therefore also biased against gays."
Murders echo Sizzlers killings
He said the murders "lightly echoed the Sizzler murders" of three years ago.
In that case, several employees of a gay massage parlour were murdered.
"They were also shot execution-style in the middle of the night, they were also gay and the element of humiliation is present in both cases."
Police didn't want to confirm whether the suspects are members of the Americans gang, although the brother of one of them, Clinton Davids, 23, is the notorious leader of this gang.
Gang aspect seen in execution-style murders
Dr Elaine Salo of the Africa gender institute at the University of Cape
Town, believes the gang aspect is seen in this, as well as in the manner in
which the murders were executed.
"It's probable that a series of smaller violent actions took place before the murders - the gang members' keenness to prove their bravado and emotional toughness to the rest of the gang.
"In my own work I have found that it is important for gang members to prove their emotional toughness with brutal violence or emotional distance from a victim in the presence of other gang members in order to prove their loyalty to the gang.
Involvement of a woman
Anthony's alleged involvement also indicated gang activity.
"Criminologists have often found that a woman has the power to choose
victims and the level and duration of violence, especially if she has a
special relationship with the gang leader," said Salo.
Gang members are often also drug users, she added.
"Drugs can render individuals insensitive to violence. This could be the
case in this instance. Intense homophobia could also be part of the gang
identity, even if the men had sex with the other men in the gangs.