Zim man held for torching Boer couple, Cumberland

Zimbabwean held for burning Boer couple Aucamp to death, Cumberland, Thabazimbi

21 Dec 2010 A 26-year-old Zimbabwean man appeared before the Thabazimbi Magistrate's Court on Monday for allegedly stabbing and then burning the Boer couple Jeremiah Aucamp, 55, and wife (Dorosha or Daleen?)52, to death at their farm Vandas near Cumberland. It’s not known whether the arrested man -- identified as Brighton Mafanedza -- had carried out the attack all by himself.

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Picture: the original news item in Rapport newspaper by journalist Celinda Groenewald had identified the wife as Daleen Aucamp.

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Not clear whether the couple were dead when they were loaded into their car and torched:

Limpopo police LtCol Mohale Ramatseba said: “The couple arrived at their farmhouse in the evening and were allegedly attacked by the suspect, a worker at the farm, with a knife. He then allegedly loaded the victims into their Toyota Land Cruiser and drove away for about 25km. The vehicle was found burnt out with the victims inside (the trunk). They were burnt beyond recognition."

The suspect was arrested and found in possession of items belonging to the couple: namely a cellphone, a credit card and R2,000 ($200) in cash. The weapon was also recovered, he said. Nothing else was robbed at the homestead: many items of value were left behind.Mafafedza was denied bail, and his case was postponed to January 20 next year pending further investigations.

The Aucamp couple is survived by daughters Leonie Mans, 24; Linda Botes, 29; and Mandie Prodehl, 32 as well as two granddaughters, Marlie, 6 and Antoinette Prodehl, 5.

Their youngest daughter Leonie Mans told Rapport newspaper that after they hadn’t heard from their parents upon their return to the farm from Christmas shopping with their daughters, she and her sister Mandie Prodehl, 32, phoned a neighbour asking him to investigate. However this farmer couldn’t gain access to the property because all the gates, doors and windows were security-locked. The sisters drove to the farm and asked the gardener where their parents and their vehicle could be. This worker had told them the Aucamp couple ‘had gone to buy animal feed in Dwaalboom’. Then a family friend phoned with the news that a burnt-out Land Cruiser was found on a dirt-road outside Dwaalboom. The women rushed there and confirmed that it was the vehicle belonging to their parents.

•“Police only phoned later that afternoon to say there were two torched bodies in the trunk…”
•“However the police only phoned us later that afternoon to tell us that they had found two torched bodies in the trunk.” The two sisters identified their parents through the JEWELLERY THEY WERE STILL WEARING. “The police said it seemed as if they were already dead when the car was torched,’ said Ms Mans.
http://www.praag.co.uk/news/southern-africa/589-man-held-for-burning-couple-to-death.html