WW2 pilot killed in Pretoria

2009-11-13 14:52

Pretoria - An 89-year-old man, believed to be a former World War 2 pilot, was found murdered in his Monument Park house on Friday morning, Pretoria police said.

Frans Swemmer was found dead around 09:00 by a friend of his who had a spare set of keys, Sergeant Lynette Erasmus said.

On Thursday night a neighbour noticed Swemmer's garage door was open with the lights on. She also saw his Mercedes Benz was not in the garage and called security guards to do a perimeter check, but was later told everything was in order. Realising the garage was still open on Friday morning she called Swemmer's friend.

"[The lady] came with the spare keys and she opened his house just to verify what was going on. They found him in the dining room on the carpet," said Erasmus.

She said some electrical equipment, clothes and Swemmer's car were missing.

The weapon used to kill Swemmer was not known, however police had ruled out a firearm and a knife.

A case of murder and robbery was being investigated.

- SAPA