Killer caught hacking off head
2008-11-25 12:02
Engcobo - Police caught an Engcobo serial killer hacking the head off one of
his victims in the front yard of his mud hut home, a spokesperson said on
Tuesday.
"He was using a pick and hammer to take off the
head... It was very gruesome," said Superintendent Mzukisi Fatyela.
Police found four headless bodies at the man's home - all believed
to be those of his neighbours, he said.
They were also regular customers of their 37-year-old killer, who
sold liquor from his home.
"We believe that the four went to buy liquor from the man, either
together or one at a time, and were then attacked... He probably beat
them up before decapitating them," Fatyela said.
Charged at police
Police made the gruesome find after community members watched the
man stab a 23-year-old to death with a pick axe in Xhibeni locality at
13:00 on Monday.
As the police entered the man's yard, he stopped dismembering the
corpse and charged at them with the pick. Police then shot him in the
leg.
"After the arrest we went inside his house and found three other
headless bodies - of a 65-year-old man, 34-year-old man and a
37-year-old man.
"They were buried inside a shallow grave inside the house, and their
heads were in plastic bags lying next to their bodies."
Police took the man to a nearby hospital for questioning, but had to
move him when community members came looking for him.
"We moved him from the hospital to police custody because community
members were very angry, and they still are."
Police had searched the premises for more buried bodies, but had not
found any. The motive for the killings was not known.
A case of murder was being investigated and the man was expected to
appear in Engcobo Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, said Fatyela.
- SAPA