Post-mortem for French fugitive couple

2011-01-22 14:40

Johannesburg - A post-mortem on a French couple, killed during an apparent shoot-out with police on a farm near Sutherland, will be performed next week, the Hawks said on Saturday.

Spokesperson McIntosh Polela said the French embassy would also be sending someone to assist in positively identifying the couple Philippe Menière, 60, and Agnes Jardel, 55, who evaded police for nearly a week after they shot and killed a policeman and wounded another.

"We are very grateful to the French embassy for sending someone over. It was otherwise going to be very difficult in identifying them because we hear that the doctor [Menière] had cut off all contact with his mother," Polela said.

The autopsy would be performed in Kimberly, and it was not certain when the cause of their deaths would be known.

Polela could also not say if Menière's mother was informed of the shooting which took place on Thursday at Hardie farm just before noon.

The pair allegedly shot dead student Constable Jacob Boleme, 27, and wounded Warrant Officer Glenwall du Toit, 42, after they were called in by Gerhardus du Plessis, owner of the farm, to help evict the couple from his property.

They had lived on the farm for 12 years. Du Plessis wanted to evict them when he found a number of unlicensed firearms in their possession.

On Friday, a team from the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) arrived in Sutherland to investigate their deaths.

"They will look into the allegation that people died due to police action," ICD spokesperson Tiyani Sambo said.

He said the directorate has to "probe" the incident because people were killed, allegedly by police officers.

- SAPA