Three held for Pieterse's murder
2002-04-06 18:10
Middelburg - Three men were arrested early on Saturday in connection with the murder of author and television presenter Pieter Pieterse, Mpumalanga police said.
Senior Superintendent Theo Du Bruyn said two men, both aged 21, were arrested at Tonga near the Mozambican border. The third man (31) was arrested at Hectorspruit.
The men were linked to the case after witnesses allegedly spotted them apparently carrying stolen goods near the murder scene.
Police were still searching for another man who might have been involved.
The three men will appear in court on Monday.
Pieterse was murdered in Komatipoort. He was stabbed 28 times.
The 66-year-old Pieterse's badly decomposed body was discovered by his wife Jenny at Marloth Park on March 25.
According to police, he had been dead "for days" when his body was found.
Pieterse and Zack Du Plessis took over presenting the ever-popular Afrikaans story-teller's show Maak 'n Las after veteran comedian and story-teller Tolla van der Merwe died in a car accident - also in Mpumalanga - in August 2000.
Pieterse published his first short story at the age of 20 in 1956. After that he wrote more than 30 novels. Fourteen were translated into English and one into French.
- SAPA