“The deeply-religious couple had moved from Lydenburg to find peace at Stilbaai, where they could be safe…’
15 Oct 2010 04:45 An Afrikaner couple, Jan and Elizabeth Smit, were found tortured to death – the wife was impaled on a garden fork – on their farm near Jongensfontein outside the retirement town of Stilbaai in the Southern Cape.
A family friend found the bodies of 62-year-old Jan Smit and his 57-year-old wife Elizabeth on Thursday. The traumatised friend spotted the woman's body impaled on a garden fork when she peered through their lounge window. Police spokespman Malcom Pojie said both bodies also were “heavily bruised and bound with rope”. A man has been questioned.
"As the investigation unfolded, they took a man in for questioning late last night. He is from Riversdale and is currently being question by the organised crime investigation unit," he added. Autopsies are set to be carried out on the couple to determine the exact cause of death: this might take a while: there is a severe shortage of forensic-experts in SA.
The couple used to own a coffee shop in Stilbaai and had moved to the ‘peaceful area’ from Lydenburg in Mpumalanga a number of years ago. Dominee Willie Gouws of the NG congregation in Stilbaai said he had known the man and woman well.
"They weren't registered members of the NG Church but they were very religious people." Another Stilbaai resident, Philip Claasen, said the people of the town were shocked. "It is totally unheard-of in Stilbaai. And totally unacceptable. Keep in mind that 60% of the residents of Stilbaai are older than 60. It is a retirement town and the residents here are very exposed."There has definitely been an increase in crime recently. There are several elderly residents who live on smallholdings here," said Claassen. He described the deceased as good, friendly people.
By late Thursday, no one had yet been arrested in connection with the murders. People with more information about the murders were asked to call police's toll free StopCrime number on 08600 10111
•http://www.dieburger.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Egpaar-het-vrede-in-Stilbaai-kom-soek-20101016
•http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Gruesome-murders-shock-town-20101015
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