#Krugersdorpmurders: What happened in court?
The trial of the five alleged murderers who killed 11 victims in total, will now become two separate trials.
The five accused of killing 11 people on the West Rand appeared in the Johannesburg High Court yesterday, 2 May.
The case – better known as the #KrugersdorpMurders was postponed again after the judge heard that two of the accused would sign plea bargains soon.
The trial of the remaining three accused who have not pleaded will then be separated from that of the other two.
For more in-depth information about the trial, read here: Krugersdorp #TripleMurder suspects appear in Johannesburg High Court today
It’s not yet clear which of the accused will sign the plea bargains.
The official trial date for the remaining three accused will be announced on Wednesday, 16 May, after which there will be two separate trials.
File photo: Bianca Pindral.
A timeline of the murders:
• The first Krugersdorp-based victims were Kevin McAlpine, Hanlé Lategan and Anthony Scholefield – the last people murdered during the four-year killing spree. Their deaths constituted the original charges laid against the group in 2016.
Also Read: Triple murder accused now charged with 11 murders
Further investigations led to eight more murder charges being laid –
• 26 July 2012: Joyce Boonzaaier, 68, and Natacha Burger, 31, were found murdered in Centurion. Both had stab wounds. Reports say their throats were also slit; however, this still needs to be confirmed by the court during the trial.
• 14 August 2012: Pastor Reginald Bendixen, 75, was found murdered in Honeydew. He also had stab wounds and was believed to have been hacked to death. This also still needs to be confirmed by the court during the trial.
• 11 October 2012: Micheala Valentine, 25, was found murdered in her home. She was stabbed to death.• Four additional murders were then added to the charge sheet, namely the deaths of Valentine’s wife Michaela, Natacha Burger, Joyce Boonzaaier and Pastor Reginald Bendixen.• 27 November 2015: Peter and Joan Meyer were found murdered in their Noordheuwel home. They had also been stabbed to death.• 16 December 2015: Jarrod Jackson was found murdered in the Free State. It’s alleged that Cecilia and Marinda faked Zak Valentine’s death by drugging and placing Jackson, who was a beggar, in Valentine’s vehicle and setting it alight. The body was burnt beyond recognition and for some time police believed it was indeed Valentine. The two women tried to claim against Valentine’s life insurance policy worth more than R3 million after his ‘death’, but failed.
• January 2016: Glen McGregor, 57, was found murdered in Randfontein. He was an accountant from Krugersdorp, and was shot and killed.
• The court added four more murders to the charges against the group – the deaths of the Noordheuwel couple, Peter and Joan Meyer, Glen McGregor and Jarrod Jackson.
• 10 May 2016: Anthony Scholefield, 64, was found murdered in Krugersdorp. He was strangled to death and dumped in the back of his own car which was parked in Krugersdorp. He was robbed before his death and more than R9 000 was withdrawn from his bank account.
• 26 May 2016: Kevin McAlpine, 29, was found murdered in Krugersdorp. He was found in the boot of his car. All his belongings were stolen. His wife was pregnant with their first child at the time of his murder.
• 30 May 2016: Hanlé Lategan, 52, was found in Randfontein, murdered. She was a property agent. Money was withdrawn from her bank account and stolen before her death. Some of her belongings were also stolen.
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at krugersdorpnews@caxton.co.za or phone us on 011 955 1130.I
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