It is almost two months since the Grahamstown and Port Alfred communities were stymied by three brutal murders in one week.
The first murder was that of local cleric, Clive Newman who was found bludgeoned to death in his room at the College of the Transfiguration.
It is almost two months since the Grahamstown and Port Alfred communities were stymied by three brutal murders in one week.
The first murder was that of local cleric, Clive Newman who was found bludgeoned to death in his room at the College of the Transfiguration.
The second murder was Port Alfred businessman Andrew Reynolds who was found with a gunshot wound in his head at his friend’s farm. Reynolds was discovered by a farm employee early in the morning lying in his bed with blood splatteres all over the room.
Friends close to Reynolds described him as a friendly man who was never involved in any trouble. There were rumours that the murderer could have been someone known to him.
A rifle and two cellphones were found in a water tank situated a few feet away from Reynold’s cottage.
The third murder was a King William’s Town police woman Chunyiswa Zamani who was allegedly hijacked between Grahamstown and Peddie.
Zamani was with a passenger in the car were they were allegedly hijacked. The passenger ran for help, leaving Zamani alone with the hijackers. She was later found murdered with gun shot wounds all over her body.
Zamani left behind three children and a husband whom she was in the process of divorcing. Police made a breakthrough in the Clive Newman case early December, when 25 year-old Bongani Paulos from Aliwal-North made a confession to the police saying that he had bludgeoned Newman to death after he made sexual advances towards him.
During his court appearance, Paulos said he was hitchhiking to Aliwal North from Cape Town when Newman gave him a lift in Colchester on his way to Grahamstown.
Upon arrival in Grahamstown Paulos said Newman offered him food and a place to stay. It was during this time that Newman allegedly made sexual advances towards Paulos. Paulos was later sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Meanwhile, police have not made any arrests in connection with the Zamani and Reynolds murders. Police communications officer, Captain Mali Govender told Grocott’s Mail that police are still busy with the investigations.
