Pull quote: “There is nothing worse than walking in on death. I’m not feeling hate towards the suspects, only sadness about what happened.” – Gary Webb.
THE two men accused of the murder of Barbara Esmé Fenton (74), Johnny du Plooy (26) and Shaun Oosthuizen (38) appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on September 13.
The two accused are alleged to have entered the home of Fenton at the Alberton Village on September 1. Her body was found later that day, tied up and her mouth covered. Cause of death was determined to be suffocation, possibly through strangulation.
Also Read: Murder accused rearrested for death of two elderly women
Gary Webb, son-in-law of the deceased and also the person to discover the body, spoke to the RECORD about the feelings of the family.
“There is nothing worse than walking in on death,” said Webb. “I’m not feeling hate towards the suspects, only sadness about what happened. We just want them to be off the streets. We are not murderers and don’t want harm done to them. We want justice to be done.”
The accused are allegedly linked to other murders in the past, the most recent being in Roodepoort and Nelspruit, with the modus operandi of the previous murders fitting the murder case in Alberton.
Du Plooy and Oosthuizen were on trial in Nelspruit in July, alongside another suspect who was not linked to the Alberton murder. They were granted bail at the hearings despite testimony from the investigating officer at the time advising that should they be granted bail they would continue committing crimes.
The case was postponed to October 31 to allow for further investigation to take place and also specifically for the autopsy and photo album to be completed.
No bail was granted by the magistrate at this stage and both du Plooy and Oosthuizen remain in custody.
The accused are set to appear in the Nelspruit Magistrate’s Court on October 26 for the continuation of the trial for the murder in Nelspruit.
ALSO READ: BREAKING NEWS: Accused rearrested after alleged murder spree
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