'Jealousy' behind wife's shooting
2010-03-10 10:29
Nelspruit - Manie Potgieter from Lydenburg, who allegedly shot and killed Litasha van der Walt and wounded his wife, Daleen in a shooting incident on Saturday night, wrote a letter in which he accused his wife of having an extra-marital affair.
"Lord forgive me!" were the opening words of the letter.
Family friends of the Potgieters told Beeld on Tuesday that he was so jealous of his wife that he kept track of her from Iraq by means of a web camera. He was doing maintenance work in Iraq.
"She had to be home at a certain time every day and switch on the computer so he could watch her. There would be hell to pay if she was late," said a good friend.
Birthday party
Potgieter, 51, reportedly walked into the Trout Inn restaurant in Lydenburg on Saturday night with a .32 revolver and first shot his 37-year-old wife, wounding her, and then shot and killed Van der Walt, 25.
This happened during the 18th birthday party of his stepson, Wimpie.
Potgieter fled after the shooting. He was arrested 24 hours later at a guesthouse outside White River.
According to the investigating officer, Thomas Motau, the letter clearly shows that Potgieter was extremely jealous of his wife.
In the letter he also accuses her of having a lesbian affair.
The murder weapon was found near Van der Walt's body shortly after the murder. It is not registered in Potgieter's name.
Police have since seized several firearms which were hidden in the roof of Potgieter's house in Schoeman Street.
A rare Striker shotgun (with a drum magazine which holds 12-gauge shot), a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and a .22 rifle were found, among others. Potgieter only has a licence for the Striker.
They also seized two swords, a hunting knife, a panga and a large amount of ammunition.
Maintenance technician
Potgieter told police that he had served as a mercenary in Iraq, but Beeld has established that he was working as a maintenance technician for an international company, RMS, in 2007.
He did maintenance work on buildings in the city of Tadji, where there is a large American military base. He was also responsible for the maintenance of the base's electricity network and generators.
Daleen Potgieter is still being treated in the Eugène Marais hospital in Pretoria. Her condition is stable.
Her husband appeared briefly in court in Lydenburg on Tuesday. He will appear again on Wednesday and remains behind bars.