A 54-YEAR-OLD man died after a brutal beating with a baseball bat after which he was dragged to a pool to be drowned, on May 19.
It is not clear whether the beating or drowning caused Gert Hitzeroth’s death at the home of a newly acquainted friend in Mayberry Park.
His son, Wayne Hitzeroth, shared the story with the RECORD as it was told to him by family members on the scene.
According to Wayne, his father went out to a restaurant for drinks with three family members.
“This is where he met a man for the first time – the man who would take his life a few hours later,” Wayne said. “Everything was going well at the restaurant and the man even invited Gert and the three men who accompanied him to his house in Mayberry Park, for drinks.”
It has been reported that the men all left the restaurant at about 11pm.
Wayne says it is still unclear how the fight began that lead to Gert being murdered, but it happened at this man’s house. Punches were allegedly thrown and the fight escalated to the point where the man went into his house and returned with a baseball bat.
“I was told that he hit my dad over the head several times and that there was a lot of blood. According to my family members, the man then proceeded to drag my father to his swimming pool and pushed him under the water several times.”
Wayne also told the RECORD that he was told that the crime scene was cleaned up of the blood and the weapon was hidden before the Brackendowns SAPS showed up.
“I was told that after the police questioned one of the man’s family members, the member eventually handed the murder weapon over to the police.”
Brackendowns SAPS confirmed that a suspect was arrested in the early hours of May 20 and that a case of murder is being investigated.
The man appeared in the Palmridge Magistrate’s Court on May 22. The case was postponed to May 28 for a bail application.
Wayne is the eldest of Gert’s three children. He commented: “Admittedly, I do have a lot of anger in my heart towards this man and I wish more than anything that I can avenge my father, but I can’t. May he get what he deserves; may justice prevail.”
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