Please don't, begged shot woman
2010-03-09 08:21
Johannesburg - A 25-year-old woman pleaded desperately for her life before being shot dead by her friend's estranged husband at a birthday party on Saturday night.
"Please don't do it!" Litasha van der Walt from Lydenburg begged. Moments later, she was shot dead by Manie Potgieter, 51, who reportedly used to be mercenary in Iraq.
Shortly before he shot Van der Walt, Potgieter had wounded his estranged wife, Daleen, 37.
Van der Walt apparently ran to her friend after she was shot and pleaded with Potgieter. However, he pressed the firearm against her neck and pulled the trigger.
Daleen Potgieter and Van der Walt were friends who worked together at the Xstrata East mine outside Lydenburg.
Birthday party
The shooting took place at about 21:10 at the popular Trout Inn restaurant at a centre in Potgieter Street, Lydenburg.
Van der Walt was part of a group who were celebrating the 18th birthday of Daleen's son, Wimpie. There were about 70 people in the restaurant.
Potgieter's family had reportedly already obtained a protection order against him because he regularly harassed them. Daleen had started divorce proceedings.
When he showed up at the restaurant, some of the other guests made him leave, apparently because he was drunk.
According to Van der Walt's cellphone records, she phoned the police at 20:58 and asked for help because Potgieter was being a nuisance.
The police had not yet arrived when Potgieter returned 12 minutes later, this time with a firearm concealed under his jacket. He reportedly took out a .38 revolver and opened fire on his wife. She was hit twice, in the neck and in the back.
Died instantly
Van der Walt's father, Ras van der Walt, said on Monday that his daughter had run towards Potgieter. "He pressed the revolver against her neck and shot her. There's a clear black mark from the gunpowder residue on her neck."
His daughter died instantly.
He wasn't at the party but was called to the scene after the attack.
"Now we'll never hear her bubbly laughter again. She always went out of her way to make other people happy," he said.
Daleen Potgieter was admitted to the Eugène Marais hospital in Pretoria. A bullet had reportedly lodged in her pelvis. Her condition is serious but stable.
After the murder, Potgieter left his car in Kellysville outside Lydenburg and fled with a family member.
The police tracked him down 24 hours later - by means of his cellphone signals - at a guesthouse in Rocky's Drift outside White River. He was arrested along with his cousin, Leon Potgieter.
Leon was released after being questioned.