Accused has 19 convictions

Man arrested for murdering PE pensioner guilty of range of serious crimes

THE man alleged to have beaten a Port Elizabeth pensioner to death last month has been convicted of crimes a whopping 19 times.

Wandile Xana, 33, appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court yesterday afternoon and is due to reappear today for the murder of Sandra Haupt, 72.

Haupt’s body was found bloodied and unconscious in her Nazareth House retirement cottage by her husband, Paul, 75, shortly after he returned home on March 21.

Xana, who was in custody for an unrelated burglary that occurred 48 hours after the brutal attack, was arrested on Friday while inside St Albans prison.

Police spokeswoman Colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed that Xana has 19 previous convictions, ranging from robbery to burglary and theft.

Naidu said his first conviction was for theft in 1999 in Port Elizabeth. “He also has a conviction in East London for assault in 2004,” she said.

“Other crimes include malicious damage to property, robbery, theft and burglary.

“All the crimes he has been convicted of took place across the entire Nelson Mandela Bay district over a period of several years.”

Xana was linked to Haupt’s murder by fingerprints found in her home.

Within two days of the murder, Xana had been arrested for a burglary that had taken place near Nazareth House.

“Xana was arrested two days after the murder when he was caught walking down Cape Road with an assortment of copper pipes and fittings,” Naidu said.

“The copper was linked to a burglary in Hallack Road, Central.”

Hallack Road is close Nazareth House.

“While profiling the suspect for the burglary, his fingerprints were flagged as matching those found at the murder scene,” Naidu said.

Haupt’s stolen cellphone was also tracked to Kirkwood where it had been sold.

At the time of Haupt’s murder, police officers originally suspected she had fallen, but later realised to she had been brutally bludgeoned with a pickaxe handle.

The bloodied weapon was found stashed inside a nearby abandoned building.

Last week, Nazareth House board member Angelo Dashwood said that it was thought Xana slipped onto the premises by posing as a builder.

Police originally opened an inquest docket but changed it to murder when the postmortem confirmed Haupt had been savagely beaten and left for dead.

According to police, Haupt had suffered a stroke three weeks previously, which led them and her husband to believe she had fallen while suffering another stroke.

‘ Crimes include malicious damage to property and burglary