Two arrested in N9 murder case

Graaff-reinet detective WO Leon Weitz made a breakthrough in the murder case of Annette Jooste van Eeden (59).

Two suspects, Chantell Verwey (48) and Mandla Khumalo (28), were arrested in Vereeniging on Sunday 14 July in connection with the murder and robbery of Jooste van Eeden.

Police found Jooste van Eeden’s body on 13 June, four kilometres outside GraaffReinet, on the N9 towards Middelburg.

The suspects made a brief court appearance in the Graaff-reinet Magistrate’s Court on Monday 15 July.

They will reappear on Tuesday 23 July for a bail application.

Weitz was tasked to investigate the murder. For days, the identity of the victim was unknown. On Wedensday 19 June she was identified through her fingerprints.

Information then led Weitz to focus on Verwey and Khumalo in Vereeniging, with the help of WO André Pienaar and his team from Vereeniging.

Weitz took the suspects into custody on Sunday.

It is unclear at this stage if the suspects were known to Jooste van Eeden.