The family of Graham Edwards and his partner José Perez Alvarez are still looking for closure almost two years after the pair were brutally murdered in their Sun Street home.
They feel they have been shifted from pillar to post and that no one is willing to help them find answers.
The family’s ordeal began on July 14, 2015, when Joan Edwards, one of Graham’s sisters, and her daughter Sarah noticed the couple’s gate was open.
“When they couldn’t reach Graham or José on either the landline or on their cellphones they walked across the road to the home, where they found Graham lying dead in the home’s outside room,” said Cheryl Grajzel, another of Graham’s sisters.
“Sarah ran back home to get her brother Wayd.
“When he arrived on the scene he tried to resuscitate Graham, to no avail. He then went into the house, where he found José lying dead in the study.”
The Primrose police were called to the scene and they opened an inquest docket.
The family were initially told that it had been a robbery gone wrong, as there were pots and chicken strewn across the garden and clothes lying on the back veranda and outside. They were promised that a thorough investigation would be carried out to try and solve the murders.
The home did have a CCTV camera, even though the DVR’s were found cut from their computers after the crime. Wayd, an IT specialist who had helped José install the camera, offered to assist police in getting the information off them immediately.
“This offer was declined by the investigating officer, as it would be seen as tampering with state evidence.
“He said that the footage would have to be sent to Pretoria where it would be viewed,” Grajzel explained.
The footage was later returned to the family, but they were told it had not been of any importance.
“The officers said that they had sworn, under oath, that there was nothing to see on the footage.
“But when we looked at the footage ourselves, we disagreed, as we feel you can see everything – how he planned the murders, getting the plank used in the crime and signs of an altercation,” claimed Joan Edwards.
“You could even see the man throwing the food and clothes around the property and taking the TV off the wall,” Grajzel said.
However, despite the family’s insistence, they claim the police were not willing to look at the footage again, allegedly stating again that there was nothing of interest to the case.
At the crime scene a passport was also found lying next to Graham.
A year later the Primrose police released the passport photo and appealed to the community for assistance in tracing a man.
“The man, January Lebion, is wanted for questioning in connection with two 2015 murders,” said Sgt Styles Maome, communications officer for the Primrose police, at the time.
A R100 000 reward was offered to anyone who could assist the police in the arrest and prosecution of the suspect/suspects responsible for the murders, or who could point them to the whereabouts of Lebion. However, no arrests were made.
The family question why this information was not released sooner, or a watch put on the passport to ensure its owner did not leave the country.
“When police traced Graham’s cellphone they discovered that the phone had been in Primrose three weeks after the murder before travelling to Pretoria, back to Primrose and then over the Beit Bridge en route to Malawi,” said Grajzel.
The family claimed that several other leads were also never followed up, with the investigation leading to more questions than answers.
Despite the case being moved to national level, the family said they still haven’t received the help, support or updates they believe a case as serious as this needs.
When asked for comment, police informed a GCN journalist that officers would be meeting with the family on Friday.
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