Cops kill farm murder suspect
29 July 2010, 12:08
By Sharika Regchand and Sibusiso
As friends and relatives paid their last respects to murdered dairy farmer Lorraine Karg on Wednesday, one of the suspected killers was dying at a police station after being shot in an escape attempt.
Karg, 58, was killed with her domestic worker Hilda Linyane, 34, and gardener Zacheus Mhlongo, 66, on Sherwood farm, in the Rosetta area, last Wednesday night.
Two days of intensive investigation, in which Pietermaritzburg detectives working on the case squeezed in just two hours of sleep, ended with the arrests of four men in Hlatikulu township, near Mooi River, early on Wednesday.
"It boils down to a good informer network, because once we got the lead we just hung on to it and worked around the clock," said one of the detectives, who admitted to feeling fatigued.
Police said two of the men arrested were being fingerprinted at the Mooi River police station when one of them, Mnqobi Maphalala, 31, tried to make a dash for freedom.
Colonel Jay Naicker said Maphalala disarmed the officer taking his fingerprints and fired a shot.
"Another police official who was in the vicinity returned fire in the direction of the 31-year-old, fatally wounding him," he said.
The four are thought to have started a veld fire on Sherwood farm last Wednesday to draw the Kargs out of their home so they could enter the house and steal.
Lorraine Karg had been helping her husband, Neville, fight the blaze, but returned to the house to summon help.
When she failed to return and did not answer her cellphone, Neville returned to the house and found she and Linyane and Mhlongo had been murdered.
The only survivor was Linyane's 16-year-old son, who had been assaulted and locked up in the bathroom.
Linyane had been shot, while Karg and Mhlongo had been stabbed.
After the murders, members of the Pietermaritzburg organised crime unit worked tirelessly to find the culprits.
Several suspects were taken in for questioning, but were released when they could not be connected to the crime.
The police eventually made a breakthrough when they were tipped off about the possible suspects on Monday.
This led them to a home in Hlatikulu location.
The officers staked out the area and arrested the suspects, all of whom were in the same house, when the opportunity presented itself on Wednesday morning.
A 9mm pistol and several knives - believed to have been used in the murders - were recovered.
A 25-year-old woman, the sister of one of the suspects, said she had no idea why the police were arresting her brother.
She said she had heard about the farm murders on the radio and television.
"One can't put anything past a person, but if he did that, he should face up to the consequences," she said.
The woman, whose home is in a remote area almost 50km from Mooi River, said her brother had recently lost his job.
Maphalala's wife, Nqobile, complained that the officers had been aggressive in arresting her husband.
Robin Barnsley, president of farmers' union Kwanalu, said the union was grateful for the diligent and hard work done by the police.
"Now it's up to the Justice Department to expedite matters... we can't have people like (the suspects) out on bail as it would cause further unease in the community," he said.
Karg's funeral on Wednesday was attended by between 500 and 600 people, including members of the farm staff and of the families of Linyane and Mhlongo.
The Agriculture Department said Mhlongo's funeral would probably be held this weekend, while Linyane's body would be repatriated to her native Zimbabwe for burial.
The Kargs, one of the biggest dairy farmers in the area, were well known in the industry for technical advances on their farm.
As friends and relatives paid their last respects to murdered dairy farmer Lorraine Karg on Wednesday, one of the suspected killers was dying at a police station after being shot in an escape attempt.
Karg, 58, was killed with her domestic worker Hilda Linyane, 34, and gardener Zacheus Mhlongo, 66, on Sherwood farm, in the Rosetta area, last Wednesday night.
Two days of intensive investigation, in which Pietermaritzburg detectives working on the case squeezed in just two hours of sleep, ended with the arrests of four men in Hlatikulu township, near Mooi River, early on Wednesday.
"It boils down to a good informer network, because once we got the lead we just hung on to it and worked around the clock," said one of the detectives, who admitted to feeling fatigued.
Police said two of the men arrested were being fingerprinted at the Mooi River police station when one of them, Mnqobi Maphalala, 31, tried to make a dash for freedom.
Colonel Jay Naicker said Maphalala disarmed the officer taking his fingerprints and fired a shot.
"Another police official who was in the vicinity returned fire in the direction of the 31-year-old, fatally wounding him," he said.
The four are thought to have started a veld fire on Sherwood farm last Wednesday to draw the Kargs out of their home so they could enter the house and steal.
Lorraine Karg had been helping her husband, Neville, fight the blaze, but returned to the house to summon help.
When she failed to return and did not answer her cellphone, Neville returned to the house and found she and Linyane and Mhlongo had been murdered.
The only survivor was Linyane's 16-year-old son, who had been assaulted and locked up in the bathroom.
Linyane had been shot, while Karg and Mhlongo had been stabbed.
After the murders, members of the Pietermaritzburg organised crime unit worked tirelessly to find the culprits.
Several suspects were taken in for questioning, but were released when they could not be connected to the crime.
The police eventually made a breakthrough when they were tipped off about the possible suspects on Monday.
This led them to a home in Hlatikulu location.
The officers staked out the area and arrested the suspects, all of whom were in the same house, when the opportunity presented itself on Wednesday morning.
A 9mm pistol and several knives - believed to have been used in the murders - were recovered.
A 25-year-old woman, the sister of one of the suspects, said she had no idea why the police were arresting her brother.
She said she had heard about the farm murders on the radio and television.
"One can't put anything past a person, but if he did that, he should face up to the consequences," she said.
The woman, whose home is in a remote area almost 50km from Mooi River, said her brother had recently lost his job.
Maphalala's wife, Nqobile, complained that the officers had been aggressive in arresting her husband.
Robin Barnsley, president of farmers' union Kwanalu, said the union was grateful for the diligent and hard work done by the police.
"Now it's up to the Justice Department to expedite matters... we can't have people like (the suspects) out on bail as it would cause further unease in the community," he said.
Karg's funeral on Wednesday was attended by between 500 and 600 people, including members of the farm staff and of the families of Linyane and Mhlongo.
The Agriculture Department said Mhlongo's funeral would probably be held this weekend, while Linyane's body would be repatriated to her native Zimbabwe for burial.
The Kargs, one of the biggest dairy farmers in the area, were well known in the industry for technical advances on their farm.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Mercury on July 29, 2010
