Serial killer in Masoyi
Bodies of five women buried in garden
MASOYI - Police suspect a man to be a serial killer after he showed them five bodies of young women buried in his garden over the weekend.
Police spokesman, Brig Leonard Hlathi said it looked like 25-year-old Julius Thabiso Mndawe might be a serial killer. The victims were all female and allegedly aged between 15 and 24.
The bodies were exhumed from his yard in Masoyi. “He pointed out all the areas where he killed, raped and concealed the bodies of the victims. He must have known them, as he named each one.”
On Sunday, police exhumed three bodies, following the discovery of the first two last week and two weeks ago respectively.
This happened after police were investigating a case of missing persons. Tokkie Elina Tlaka (24) went missing some time in May.
Lowvelder’s sister publication, Mpumalanga News, had reported that Masoyi police said Mndawe confessed he allegedly met Tlaka on Facebook. For three days they exchanged online messages. He then allegedly invited her to meet him at Mandela Complex. They proceeded to his place where they allegedly got intimate.
He allegedly told police that he killed her after she continuously nagged him for money he did not have.
Hlathi said he then buried her body next to a pit toilet in his yard. Police soon made Mndawe a person of interest in Tlaka’s disappearance and went to his house looking for him. “He jumped out a window when police arrived. Later on, his mother brought him to the police station.”
Mndawe first appeared at the Masoyi Periodical Court on July 5, facing a murder charge. He was remanded in custody pending bail application on Monday.
That is when he allegedly shockingly confessed to killing another woman, whose body was exhumed on Friday night. He then confessed and showed police where three more bodies were buried which were exhumed on Sunday.
“Mndawe, whose house was torched by enraged members of the community, is currently facing five counts of murder, violation of a corpse and concealment of a body charges as well as rape. He will appear in court today, where all the cases may be placed on the court roll concurrently,” Hlathi said. The provincial police commissioner, Lt Gen Mondli Zuma, hailed the investigating team for a job well done. He, however, was perturbed by the incessant torching of houses in the Masoyi area by members of the community.
“This tendency is not only an illegal practice but also a travesty of justice in that vital evidence that may have been in the house could be destroyed, thereby destroying the prospects of a conviction,” said Zuma.