Is the devil alive and well in Krugersdorp?
Occult overtones as family and neighbours face charges of luring professionals to their gruesome deaths
IT reads like a B-grade horror movie plot, complete with satanic overtones, children groomed by their mother to kill, religious tattoos, a fake death and a string of grisly murders.
The killings occurred not on a Hollywood set, but in the town of Krugersdorp on Gauteng’s West Rand between November 2015 and June last year.
Six people have been arrested and the trial is set to get under way in the High Court in Johannesburg in October. The accused include a popular high school teacher, her two children and an insurance broker who graduated cum laude and worked for several large national companies.
Among the victims are unsuspecting professionals who were allegedly lured to their death by a group who posed as prospective clients. Police sources claim their sole motive was money — a fact they say is almost unprecedented in serial killers.
High school teacher Marinda Steyn, 50, and her children, Le Roux, 21, and Marcel, 18, will face seven counts of murder alongside Cecilia Steyn, 35, who is no relation, and Zak Valentine, 32. The charges include murder, aggravated robbery, fraud, organised crime and obstruction of justice. They have yet to plead.
A sixth person, John Barnard, 40, was tried separately for the same crimes and sentenced to 30 years. Ten years were suspended on condition that he testify against the other accused.
More charges could be added. Police are investigating links to at least four other murders dating back to 2012.
The well-inked accused all sport a Latin tattoo, Electus per deus — “chosen by god”.
Investigating officer Captain Ben Booysen said: “They don’t speak about God, they talk about ‘our’ god, but at this stage I don’t know who their god is.
“The motive for all seven killings appears to have been money. While the killings were violent, there was no ritualistic element to them.”
The first victims were Joan Meyer, 47, and Peter Meyer, 51. The couple owned a printing shop in Krugersdorp, where Barnard had worked for many years.
Barnard testified in his trial that they had targeted the Meyers at their house in November 2015, believing the couple kept millions in cash there. When this turned out to be false, Valentine “lost it” and stabbed the couple, he said.
The failed robbery sparked a new plan to fake Valentine’s death so they could claim a life insurance payout. Cecilia was the sole beneficiary of Valentine’s policy.
Barnard testified that he, Valentine and Le Roux befriended Jarod Jackson, 44, who lived on the street.
Valentine invited Jarod on a trip to the Free State in December 2015. On the way, they allegedly strangled him, put him in the driver’s seat and set the car on fire, according to Barnard. They then allegedly claimed that the dead man was Valentine and applied for the policy payout.
When the insurance company suspected foul play and refused to pay out, the group changed their modus operandi.
In January last year they made an appointment with tax consultant Glen McGregor, 57, on his smallholding in Randfontein, outside Krugersdorp. There they allegedly forced him to transfer money into Marinda’s account and then shot him in the stomach.
Insurance brokers Anthony Scholefield, 64, and Kevin McAlpine, 29, and estate agent Hanlé Lategan, 52, were approached in a similar way.
A police source said: “They made appointments with all these people at Key West shopping centre, among other places. Then they would phone them and say something like their car had broken down and ask if they could meet at the local hospital.
“Once there, they would lure them into Marinda’s flat, which is opposite the hospital, tie them up and murder them.” The bodies were then dumped.
Cecilia lived on the ground floor of the block of flats with her husband and two children, while Marinda lived on the top floor with her two children and Barnard.
A staff member at Hoërskool Jan de Klerk, where Marinda taught, told the Sunday Times this week that Marinda got on well with other staff members and always did her work on time.
“There was nothing peculiar or strange about her behaviour,” the staffer said..
The staff were apparently very supportive of her at first, but this changed when the police discovered ammunition in her classroom, the source said.
The ammunition was hidden in a stove in Marinda’s classroom, which had been previously used for home economics.
Among those who have attended court proceedings is Celia Scholefield, the daughter-in-law of one of the victims.
“They laugh, joke and pull faces in court. It’s like they’re mocking us. Our lives will never be the same,” she said.
Police are also believed to be investigating a possible link between the six accused and a series of murders in 2012, which occurred following a falling out between members of the Overcomers Through Christ church.
On July 26, church member Natacha Burger, 31, and her neighbour Joyce Boonzaier, 68, were found dead in Boonzaier’s Centurion home.
On August 13, Pastor Reg Bendixen — the group’s “mentor” — was found in the garden of his Honeydew home with his throat slit.
On October 4, Valentine’s wife, Mikeila, 25, was found stabbed to death in her home in Ruimsig, Johannesburg. She had also been a member of Overcomers Through Christ. The church is believed to have since been disbanded.