Murder suspect in court

A 30-YEAR-OLD man allegedly linked to the macabre murder of a Mossel Bay resident whose body was found in a pool of blood in his flat on Sunday, appeared in the Mossel Bay Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Quintin Seyffert briefly took his place in the dock on a charge of murder, but the matter was postponed to August 11when he will formally apply for bail. In the meantime, he remains in custody at the George correctional centre until his next court appearance.

The mutilated body of 55year-old Daniel Bekker was discovered in his Heiderand Flats apartment in Essenhout Street – just a stone’s through from the South Cape College Mossel Bay campus and the Mossel Bay Association for Persons with Disabilities – by police on Sunday.

A former housemate requested police officers to accompany him to the apartment to collect some of the belongings he had left there when he was still living with Bekker.

When they opened the door, they made the grisly discovery – Bekker was found on a bloodsoaked bed in his bedroom.

His throat had been slashed and his wrists had been cut.

The scene was so gruesome the police officers who processed the scene had to undergo trauma counselling.

“Preliminary investigations suggest the crime could have been committed between Friday August 1 and the time of discov- ery on Sunday at about 1pm,” police spokesman Captain Malcolm Pojie said.

Seyffert was arrested at 7pm on Monday and although only charged with murder at this stage, other charges could be added.

“After his [Seyffert] arrest, we discovered Bekker’s cellphone as well as his motorbike were missing. The motorbike was later retrieved from the ocean.”

Essenhout Street residents and business owners were shocked when they heard about Bekker’s murder as they described the neighbourhood as peaceful.

“Last year, there was a surge in break-ins but nothing violent. You never hear about assaults or murders,” Elsa Kriek said.