‘More bodies in veld’ – Cele says Mthwalume suspect revealed more locations before suicide
Police Minister Bheki Cele says the body count in the Mthwalume murders in KwaZulu-Natal is likely to rise above the current 5 bodies discovered recently.
This comes after one of the suspects revealed to law enforcement that more bodies are buried in a veld in the area on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.
The suspect was arrested in connection with the murder of five women, some of which were discovered last week.
In a dramatic twist of events, the suspect then committed suicide in police custody, hours after he had confessed.
“Yesterday, he showed us where he has dumped the bodies of the five women. He also told us that there are more than five women killed and dumped in the field. He was supposed to take us to the other bodies before he died,” says Cele.
Addressing an angry crowd outside the Umzumbe Magistrates Court on Monday, Cele adds he’s sent in additional teams to probe the suspect’s claims.
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Mthwalume murder suspect commits suicide in police custody
Sources within the KZN police, close to the investigation confirmed the suicide. Two men aged between 35 and 41 were meant to appear at the Umzumbe Magistrates Court on Monday, following the murders of five women.
He was one of two suspects arrested over the week end and expected to make their first court appearances on Monday morning.
However, the second suspect did not appear in court due to a lack of evidence.
“Prosecutors have told us that after the death of the first suspect, they do not have enough evidence on the second suspect. The first suspect was the key link.
“Independent Police Investigative Directorate has taken over the case. They will be investigating the suspect’s suicide. We hope that will uncover what happened to the suspect and how he hanged himself," adds Cele.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in KZN says officials studied the facts surrounding the latest developments.
“The Chief Prosecutor of that Cluster, Mr. Jabulani Cebekhulu was instructed by the DPP Kwa-Zulu Natal, Adv. Zungu, to study the dockets in conjunction with the SAPS investigating team. On studying the docket, he decided that there was a case against one of the suspects and insufficient evidence against the other suspect.
“The case against the second suspect was not enrolled due to insufficient evidence.”
