Race to net Rhodes Park killers
Investigators have been taken off their holiday leave to ensure the Rhodes Park case is cracked as soon as possible.
|||Johannesburg - More arrests are expected soon in the brutal Rhodes Park double murder case as investigators continue their search for the five remaining suspects.
On Monday, The Star learnt that some investigators have been taken off their holiday leave to ensure the case is cracked as soon as possible.
In October, two couples who were visiting the Kensington park were attacked by a large group of men.
It's understood the group raped one of the women, tied up the two men and threw them in the nearby lake, forcing their women to watch them drown.
Police made their first arrest at the end of October, with another suspect brought in just over three weeks ago. On Friday, a third suspect was arrested in Sunnyside Park, Pretoria. The 33-year-old man appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
As he walked into the dock, the man gave journalists a sharp glare, so much so that his fixated gaze was only disrupted when magistrate Lukas van der Schyff explained the seriousness of the charges he faces.
The provisional charge sheet shows the men have so far been charged with two counts of murder, two counts of rape and four of robbery with aggravated circumstances.
According to Van der Schyff, if found guilty on these charges, the man and his co-accused face life imprisonment.
When the man confirmed he had not yet been assigned a lawyer and required legal aid assistance, the court was told that representatives would be available only on January 6.
Van der Schyff was quick to warn the man that while he had the opportunity to apply for bail without a legal representative, it would be almost impossible for him to succeed without help because of the seriousness of the charges.
The State informed the court that an identity parade was still set to be held, and DNA analysis using samples from the new accused would have to be started in the next week.
When a media application to photograph the suspect was launched, Van der Schyff held off on his ruling until the identity parade has been completed.
The man indicated he did not wish to be photographed as he had two young children, an eight-year-old and 12-year-old, who he worried would see his picture in the media.
The case was postponed to December 28 for the identity parade to be completed and to determine if any legal aid attorneys would be available.
Outside court, lead investigator Warrant Officer Bruce van der Schyff (no relation to the magistrate) told journalists that the initial statement given by provincial police citing 12 suspects involved in the crime was wrong.
He confirmed that after the first three arrests, there were only five outstanding suspects. While the first two suspects are foreign nationals illegally in South Africa and had to abandon their bail applications, the recent suspect has indicated he wishes to apply for bail.
None of the accused can be named in the media until all three have pleaded guilty or not guilty to the charges of rape against them.
shain.germaner@inl.co.za
The Star
* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.