'I'm just sorry I didn't die too'
2007-09-16 23:23
Johannesburg - A Linden woman whose husband was shot dead in a botched robbery says she regrets screaming out his name when she found two men in her kitchen.
"Perhaps I shouldn't have screamed his name. But I was terrified and helpless. I'm just sorry they didn't murder me as well."
That was how Denise Buntjelich, 61, on Sunday described the murder of her husband Ivo, 73, who was shot dead in front of her at their home on Friday night.
The couple, who had celebrated their 36th wedding anniversary last Wednesday, ran the Limpopo Butchery in Emmerentia.
Denise said her husband was lying on the sofa relaxing in his red pyjamas waiting for the kick-off of the Rugby World Cup match between South Africa and England.
'It all happened so fast'
She walked into the kitchen and found two armed men there.
"I looked up and the one pushed his gun into my face with his finger on his lips. What could I do, it all happened so fast," Denise said.
She instinctively called Ivo's name, and he stormed into the kitchen, tackling one of the robbers.
In the struggle that followed, two shots were fired and the robbers fled.
"That's when Ivo turned around, closed his eyes and collapsed. We never spoke to each other again," Denise said.
She said because her husband was wearing red pyjamas she initially didn't realise how much blood he'd lost when she saw his bullet wounds.
People who heard Denise and her daughter screaming, called the emergency services.
Shot twice in abdomen
Nick Dollman, Netcare 911 spokesperson, said Ivo was shot twice in the abdomen.
"He was already critical when we arrived at the scene and the paramedics think he sustained massive internal injuries," Dollman said.
Ivo was immediately put on life-support and quickly taken to the nearby Milpark Hospital.
"In spite of the hospital's efforts to keep him alive, he died as a result of his injuries," Dollman said.