Shaun Oosthuizen, 38 and John du Plooy, 26 have been rearrested for two more alleged murders after they were released on R2 000 bail each on 3 August for murdering Hetta Potgieter, 85, on 1 July.
Potgieter was murdered at her flat in the Macadamia Care Centre in Mbombela.
A third accomplice, Maryna Mandy Vorster, 48, is still out on bail for the murder of Potgieter, but according to the investigating officer, Colonel Erhard Stroh, she is not connected to the last two murders – one in Alberton and another that was committed in Roodepoort on 20 August. There are at least four more murders with which the three are connected, in which the modus operandi was exactly the same.
Also Read:
https://roodepoortrecord.co.za/2018/02/16/marthinus-pelser-sentenced-for-murdering-his-baby-boy/
Oosthuizen, Vorster and Du Plooy would enter old age homes or retirement villages under the pretence of knowing one of the residents. Once they had identified their victim, they would knock on the door and either ask for a glass of water or to use the toilet. They would then tie the victim up, stuff a cloth in her mouth and wrap another piece of cloth around her mouth before ransacking the home. All the victims died of suffocation.
Stroh said Oosthuizen had seven previous convictions for theft. For the most recent, he had served time in prison and was released in 2013.
The Record’s sister newspaper, the Lowvelder, spoke to Philip Brand, the son of Engela van Wyk, 86, who was murdered on Sunday, June 26, regarding the similarities between his mother’s case and Potgieter’s. “She [Van Wyk] was found suffocated in her home at Rus-‘n-Bietjie Old Age Home in Springs.”
Brand said witnesses had seen two men entering Van Wyk’s flatlet. “Her home was right in the middle of the village,” he told the Lowvelder. She was found in her room with her hands bound to her bed. A cloth was stuffed in her mouth and another wrapped around it. The flatlet had been ransacked. Her jewellery, rings and a cellphone were taken, plus the key. “My mother did not deserve to die like this. We were puzzled, as there had never been any problems at the old age home. I heard from the other tenants that two men were asking to use the bathroom,” Brand said.
“A police source revealed that they were investigating more robbery cases and the murder of a 92-year-old woman, which happened on December 5, 2015 on the eighth floor of a home for the aged in Sunnyside, Pretoria,” Lowvelder reported.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at roodepoortrecord@caxton.co.za (remember to include your contact details) or phone us on 011 955 1130.
For free daily local news on the West Rand, also visit our sister newspaper websites
Remember to visit our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages to let your voice be heard!
