Man, gardener 'tied up like dogs'
2009-11-26 08:41
Pretoria - The caretaker and gardener of a smallholding at Boschkop, east of Pretoria, have been found tied up and murdered.
The bodies of Martin "Tienie" Jacobs, 65, and his gardener were found under boxes and pillows on Wednesday morning, about 12 to 18 hours after their deaths.
Jacobs and his gardener, whose identity and age have not yet been determined, were both presumably strangled. Jacobs was found with a wire around his neck, tied to a trailer.
"I don't understand why they had to tie up an old man like a dog," said his brother William, 60, after seeing the body on Wednesday.
"It's ugly. It's horrible. They're bent on murdering each and every one of us."
Hand and feet tied up
William, his wife Winnie, 58, and daughter, Letitia Coetzer, 36, rushed to Boschkop from Cullinan on Wednesday morning when they heard the news.
Police spokesperson Marinda Stoltz said the boarders on the smallholding, where Jacobs had been the caretaker, couldn't get hold of him. He was last seen on Tuesday afternoon at about 16:30.
On Wednesday morning, his car was still standing outside the yard, and not inside.
The boarders started searching for him at his aviary, among other places.
They came upon the bodies of Jacobs and his gardener, who'd been working for Jacobs for about a year, in the carport next to the aviary.
Jacobs was lying behind a Chevrolet car. His hands and feet were tied and his neck was tied to a trailer with a piece of wire. His watch was still on his arm and his shoes were lying near the body.
The gardener's body, lying near Jacobs, was covered with boxes and pillows. His hands and feet were also tied with wire.
Thin and weak
Winnie said her brother-in-law was thin and weak and wouldn't have been able to fight back if he was overpowered by criminals.
According to her, Jacobs only had the full use of one of his arms, since the other hadn't healed properly after it was broken.
"If they were hungry, he would have given them food. That's the kind of person he was," said Winnie.
"If they had nothing against him, surely they wouldn't have killed him like this?
"Why like that?
"He was a lovely old dear. I'm going to miss him," said Winnie.
It is still not clear whether anything was stolen.