Three bloody murders at Mtubatuba
LAST week ended on a violent note in Mtubatuba as three murders and one attempted murder were recorded in three separate incidents. At 3am on Thursday, David Williams (71) was shot and killed and his wife, Patience (70), was badly beaten when three armed men stormed into their house at Umfolozi Country Club in the Riverview suburb. ‘There were three men, one with a balaclava, involved,’ said Shorty Gielink, friend and neighbour of the Williams family, and country club golf captain. ‘One of the men broke down the front door of the house and was at the bedroom door when the Williams’ were alerted. ‘David had his gun, but the second intruder fired a shot through the bedroom window from the outside, shooting David in the back. ‘He died instantly.’
Once inside the bedroom, another of the intruders assaulted Patience, reportedly bashing her head against the wall numerous times while demanding money. ‘She told them there was no money in the house and they eventually left with a cell phone and David’s firearm.’ The Williams’ mentally challenged son was unharmed in the ordeal. According to Gielink, this is the Williams’ third robbery in two months, among numerous others in the area. ‘It appears to be a gang targeting the elderly and vulnerable people in the area.’ In the early hours of Friday morning, a soldier was critically wounded when an armed intruder fired a shot through the front door of his house in Ndlovu Village, a suburb adjacent to Riverview. The soldier retaliated and shot the intruder, who ran 800m before collapsing.
Body found
The soldier was rushed to hospital in a critical condition, with gunshot wounds to the chest. When arriving on scene, police officers followed the blood trail and discovered the suspect’s body. Mtuba detectives have not ruled out the possibility of the intruder who was killed on Friday being one of the three involved in Williams’ murder. In an unrelated incident, on Thursday morning the body of a homeless man (25), known only as Spider, was found near the livestock selling point at the corner of John Ross Highway and the R618 to St Lucia. He was found with stab wounds to the back, neck and chest. There is no motive and police are appealing to members of the public who may have information on the incident, to contact the Mtubatuba Police Station. No arrests have been made in any of the incidents, but detectives are following leads.