Dad shot in front of children
2008-01-06 23:17
Pretoria - A Waterkloof Ridge man has been shot dead in front of his wife and children in an armed robbery at his house, about a kilometre from the home of national police chief Jackie Selebi.
Fred Picton-Turbervill, 46, of Arie Street died hours later on the 21st birthday of his son, Jamie, who lives in England.
Selebi lives in Delphinus Street, which ends in Aries Street.
Picton-Turbervill, a director of a furniture manufacturing company, his wife, Ursula, 41, and their children Samantha, 10, Bryony, nine, Natasha, six, and Gregory, three, were overpowered by two armed robbers at their home at 21:30 on Saturday night.
The robbers made off with a laptop, four cellphones and about R1 000 in cash.
Shot through the eye
Speaking from the home of her friend Kim Tucker in Waterkloof Ridge, Picton-Turbervill said on Sunday "the robbers have ruined my children's lives, all for flipping cellphones".
Picton-Turbervill said the children were running in and out of the house and she and her husband were watching television, when the robbers struck and ordered them to lie down on the floor.
"They shouted: 'Sleep! Sleep!' and 'Money! Money!' We all went through to the dining room and lay on the floor.
"My husband asked them not to hurt the children. He also asked if the children could go through to another room, but the robbers didn't want that," she said.
"One robber suddenly shot my husband who was lying half curled up behind me, through the eye.
"He collapsed against me. Samantha closed little Gregory's eyes as he lay crying, because she didn't want him to see how their father bled to death, and Bryony and Natasha just lay dead still.
"They took me through the house into our room, where I gave them my jewellery box and my husband's wallet.
The robbers took her back to the children before fleeing.
"After they'd left, I put the children into the car and rushed off to Kim's house for help.
"I left the children there and hurried back home to be with my husband while we waited for the police," she wept.
Hugo Minnaar, a rescue worker at LifeMed, said that when they arrived at the scene, the husband was lying on the lounge floor in a critical condition.
"We put him on life support and took him through to the Little Company of Mary Hospital where he died later," said Minnaar.
Son flying from England
"There was nothing they could do for him," said Ursula.
She said Jamie would be flying to South Africa on Monday to be with the family.
It was not clear on Sunday if Selebi was aware of the murder so close to his house.
National police spokesperson Sally de Beer could not say if Selebi would visit the Picton-Turbervill family to express his condolences, but said "if he did do so, he would prefer to keep it private".