Woman 'had murder foreboding'
2005-08-03 22:53
Carla Mouton and Borrie la Grange
Johannesburg - Four days before her murder, a businesswoman from Hekpoort on the West Rand told her neighbour she was afraid of being murdered like Dr Pieter Ernst, who was shot dead in front of his farm gate last week.
Ruth Walsh, 63, became the third murder victim in a month in the Hekpoort area after being beaten to death with a pick handle in her house.
Ernst was murdered on Friday.
Willem Lourens, 61, a much-loved vegetable farmer, was shot and killed after he and his wife were attacked by robbers in July.
Lourens's uncle and aunt were murdered last year on their farm in the area.
Walsh's neighbour said she phoned him on Friday evening after Ernst's murder, saying she feared for her safety.
Walsh's husband, Martin, 77, was murdered five years ago after attackers ambushed him after putting a huge rock in the road he used to get home.
Refused to move to city
Walsh had been living alone on the farm since her husband's death.
Yani Joannides, a business partner, said on Wednesday: "She was angry and traumatised after Martin's death, but refused to move to the city, saying she was not afraid to live alone. It was their dream to live on a farm."
"She started planning to sell the farm and move to the city only in the past few months."
Walsh and her husband, both originally from Britain, were the owners of Impact Publishing, who specialised in printing calenders showing artworks of wildlife.
Superintendent Milica Bezuidenhout of the police said Walsh apparently was overpowered near her car on Tuesday evening and hit on the head with a pick handle.
She apparently then was forced into her home, where she was beaten to death.
Her body was found by police shortly after 08:00 on Wednesday in the dining room after a friend thought something was amiss and alerted them.
The friend, who wanted to remain anonymous because she was afraid of becoming the next victim, said she was worried when Walsh failed to answer her phone on Tuesday evening.
"I have known Ruth for nine years. We talked on the phone every morning and evening to make sure everything was still okay.
"There was no answer when I phoned her on Tuesday evening. I tried calling her several times, and again on Wednesday morning," said the friend.
Nothing missing from house
When Walsh didn't react to her messages and a fax, she asked Walsh's secretary in Johannesburg to call the Magaliesburg police.
"I also asked Ruth's security company and her neighbours to go and check what was going on."
Bezuidenhout said nothing seemed to be missing from the house and Walsh's Toyota RAV4 was still there.
Detectives from the West Rand police unit against serious and violent crime took in Walsh's long-time gardener, aged 37, for questioning at 13:00 on Wednesday.