Alleged killer of six women ‘very quiet’ – ‘No one could have suspected him’

People who work in the area where the decomposed bodies of six women were found have described the 21-year-old man alleged to be their killer as someone very quiet.

Johannesburg police arrested the man on Sunday after they made the grim discovery. Police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said officers were called to the building due to a foul smell emanating from one of the rooms.

“That is when a body of a woman was found. A preliminary investigation led the police to the suspect, believed to be the last person seen with the deceased woman.”

Police later found the other five bodies in an advanced stage of decomposition. The first woman found was allegedly last seen alive with the suspect earlier this month in the semi-industrial area of the Johannesburg city centre.

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“He was always having headsets on, very quiet and we never really knew him,” said Msizi Khumalo, one of the people who work in the area.

“We never saw him entering with any woman. No one could have suspected he could be capable of such a horrific crime.”

Khumalo said it was only on Sunday when police arrived that they noticed a strong smell coming out of the building where the bodies were found.

“He used to come in and out of the building like nothing was happening. Other people used to go into the same building and no one said anything,” Khumalo said.

He did not believe the suspect’s father knew about the bodies and alleged the suspect had been assaulted by his father on Sunday.

“He also called the police,” said Khumalo.

A person who runs a car wash next to the building where the bodies were found said the man used to bring his car to him and would never say a word.

“I am very shocked; the guy looked like an introvert. I have never seen him with anyone, even when he brought his car, he did not say anything. He would only pass here with headsets in his ears and he never spoke to anyone,” he said.

He said it was still a mystery as to what exactly was being done in the building where the bodies were found.

“We hear that it was a panel beater but we do not know what exactly was being done there. The place used to be a factory where boots were being manufactured. Since that factory closed down, no one knows what happens inside because you only see cars coming in and out.”

The bodies may be those of sex workers who worked near the CBD. According to eyewitnesses, the bodies were found semi-naked, their heads covered and their hands tied at their backs.

A visibly distraught woman who works as a sex worker alleged her friend had disappeared three weeks ago after she apparently left with the suspect. She said she believed her friend was one of the people found by the police.

“It was on a Sunday around 11.40pm. She was tricked into walking with him because she always refused to be taken with a client’s car.

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“She never took anything when she left, her phone is still there and she only left with her room keys. Her room has never been opened since she left,” the woman said.

Another said she felt relieved the bodies had been found because they had been placing posters of the missing women.

“The first one disappeared on 14 June around 4pm; we placed posters until we forgot about her. Others also went missing, and we did the same thing but [they] were never found,” she said.

“The discovery of their bodies is very sad but it is also a relief because now we know what happened to them. Their families still do not know what happened to them and some of them are not even from South Africa.”

– lungam@citizen.co.za