Fairlands victim also bludgeoned

Son hires private detective

FORMER Port Rex High School teacher Keith Ferreira, who was strangled and found lying face down in his lounge on October 30 in his Fairlands Home, was also bludgeoned in the face.

This was revealed by his son Gavin Ferreira and the home.

The 86-year-old was strangled to death with either a rope or a belt in his cottage almost three weeks ago and found lying next to a small pool of blood.

Ferreira has hired ace private investigator Christian Botha to get to the bottom of who killed his father whom he described as “a soft and gentle Christian”.

“The photos Christian Botha has show it is very apparent there was blunt-force trauma to the left-hand side of his face. I just hope he was hit hard enough that he was knocked unconscious before he was strangled,” Ferreira said.

He said it was also possible that his father’s wallet had been stolen by his murderer because the lining of his back pocket had been pulled out and there was no sign of money or a bank card in the neat flat.

“I need to know who disrespected my father like this. There is a huge hole in my soul and my life will never get back on track until I know who is responsible. I have to do it for my family’s honour.”

Ferreira said his father had installed a burglar gate when he moved to Fairlands at the beginning of the year after experiencing security problems at his Amalinda home.

It is thought he was killed by someone he knew because his front door and security gate were unlocked when Fairlands staff found his body after he failed to appear in the dining room for lunch twice in a row.

Botha said he was awaiting the autopsy report in order to narrow down the time of death and was also examining CCTV footage and inspecting who had had access to the home.

Ferreira’s death was initially thought to have been of natural causes until the undertaker raised the alarm that it appeared he had been strangled. Following a police postmortem, the SAPS confirmed he had been choked to death.

Botha said it would be “10 times harder” to gather forensic evidence as the scene had been contaminated before police arrived.

Executive director of the East London Senior Citizen’s Association Colleen Petzer said it was “not abnormal” that Ferreira’s flat had been cleaned.

“If anyone passes away, we don’t like the family to see, so we always clean up very quickly. Sometimes I wish we hadn’t cleaned up so quickly [in this case].”

Petzer said she was in the process of ascertaining whether the cleaning company contracted by the home cleaned Ferreira’s flat on the day before his body was found to narrow down the time of death.

She said the home’s elderly residents are a “little frightened and some have had security gates fitted to their front and back doors”.

Petzer said more advanced security cameras were being fitted at the front gate that will pick up facial features and number plates of those entering the Cambridge retirement home.

Police spokesman Captain Mluleki Mbi said no arrests had been made.