Four suspects arrested in connection with the discovery of the burnt body of a missing man, a human head in a septic tank, theft and several illegal firearms and ammunition appeared in the Daveyton Magistrate’s Court on August 20.
Two of the suspects, Ronald and Jean Holmes, who are related, will apply for bail on August 28, while Eugene Roberts has abandoned his bail application. The fourth suspect, Mike Mpotsane, who is charged with theft, will not apply for bail either.
The Holmes suspects and Roberts are charged with three counts of murder and defeating the ends of justice.They previously appeared in court on August 18 and 19. However, the matter was postponed.
The suspects hail from Putfontein and Fairleads.
The facts of the case so far, as provided by the SAPS:
- A burnt body with a gunshot wound was discovered in Vermeulen Road, Putfontein, in May.
- A family reported a male relative missing to the Putfontein SAPS around the same time, and police, working closely with the family, were able to identify the burnt body as that of their 37-year-old relative, Tony Mziza.
- The Putfontein SAPS opened a murder investigation in connection with his death.
- Mpotsane was arrested on July 31.
- On August 2, investigations led police to the landlord (Roberts) of a plot in Putfontein where Mziza was a tenant and where he apparently stored plastic materials to make stationery.
- Police found an illegal firearm and multiple rounds of ammunition on the property and the landlord (Roberts) was arrested.? On August 4, police followed up on more leads and recovered five illegal firearms and ammunition at another address in Benoni.
- On the same day, officers arrived at a plot in Eva Road, Fairleads, and searched the property.
- Six more firearms, one of which was illegal, and ammunition were found.
- A further search on the same property led to the discovery of a human head in a septic tank.
- The Holmes pair were then arrested on this Eva Road property.
- On August 5, investigations led police to three other addresses where illegal firearms and ammunition were found, bringing the total to 10 recovered illegal firearms of different calibres, including rifles.
- Police are working to uncover whether the head found in the septic tank belongs to a body found in Putfontein in June last year.
- Another murder case, in which the body was apparently ground up and fed to pigs, also now forms part of this investigation.
Gauteng provincial SAPS spokesperson Brig Mathapelo Peters previously said police are working closely with the prosecuting authorities as there is reason to believe the suspects could be linked to more crimes, pending the outcome of ballistic tests.
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