Medical care for Scholtz accused

One of the people accused of killing electrician Petrus Scholtz will be moved from the awaiting-trial section of St Albans prison into hospital – to be treated for depression and a wound to his arm.

On Monday, Christine Russouw, 55, her daughter Chantell, 35, and son Wayne, 31, appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court.

Court records show that Wayne will be moved either to the prison infirmary or a state hospital, where his arm wound will be treated and he will receive medication for his depression.

At the same time, a fourth person – 24-year-old Ronald Swartz – also appeared in court in connection with the murder of 70-year-old Scholtz.

Swartz was arrested on Thursday evening.

Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said Swartz had been arrested after detectives, who had been looking for a fourth suspect, spotted him near the North End Lake.

Naidu declined to say what Swartz’s alleged involvement in the matter was, but did say that he was not the person who had bought Scholtz’s stolen work bakkie.

It is not clear yet how Swartz knew the Russouws.

The Russouws were arrested at their Kabega Park home on July 20, a day after Scholtz’s badly beaten body was found on a dirt road in Fairview.

According to police, Scholtz had been murdered two days earlier and his body kept in a freezer until it was dumped.

Scholtz, who worked for Peter White Electrical in Summerstrand, was found with his hands and feet bound, his mouth taped shut and clingwrap over his head.

He had large gashes to the head.

According to police, Scholtz had been contacted by the Russouws on July 17 for a private electrical job at their house.

Some of Scholtz’s belongings, including tools, were allegedly found inside the house.

Naidu said the motive for the murder was still being investigated.

Police recovered the company bakkie, which Scholtz had been using at the time of his disappearance, in North End on July 21 after the Russouws allegedly sold it. The freezer in which his body had been kept was seized by police after the Russouws allegedly tried to sell it.

During their first court appearance, all three Russouws indicated that they intended to plead not guilty.

Swartz did not indicate on Monday how he intended to plead as he still needed to obtain legal representation.

The case was postponed to Friday.