Naked body found at church identified

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By Gopolang Chawane

Mystery surrounds the body of a man found naked and murdered on church grouds in the east of Pretoria recently.

An informant has confirmed to Rekord sensitive information related to the murder.

The man whose name is Willem J Conradie, 56, was found dead outside his car last Monday.

Police said the man, whose name they would not confirm nor deny, was found in the yard of the East Side community church on Primula Street and Garstfontein Road.

“Police are investigating a murder, but no arrests were made at the moment,” said Garsfontein police spokesperson Captain Ilze Jones.

She said Conradie was found with stab wounds and a postmortem would assist in the investigation, with further information.

Conradie’s wallet and other valuables seemed to be missing.

She said Connradie’s family came to collect his valuables from the police.

Asked what police found at the scene upon arrival, Jones said police suspected the victim slept in the vehicle.

Rekord questioned if Conradie could have committed suicide and police maintained a murder case was being investigated unless investigations proved differently.

The 56-year-old was found unclothed with only one sock on according to security firm Bull Security.

The vehicle, a silver-coloured Toyota Yaris was confirmed not registered to Conradie, but belonged to a Capetonian woman.

Bull security spokesperson JP Griesel said a bloody body was reported on the church grounds.

He said their firm was alerted to the church and that the victim was one of their clients.

Officer Johnston Brown responded to the scene at about 6.35am.

Brown said he found the body with only one sock on outside the vehicle.

He said at about 6.39am when he got to the scene, the man was dead.

“We contacted the police and medics, who soon arrived.”

Attempts to obtain comment from the church were unsuccessful at the time of print.

A family representative who Rekord believes to be the son-in-law said he would not provide any comment at present.

He said police were busy with investigations.

Another man claiming to be linked to the family contacted Rekord, claiming information obtained was inaccurate.

The man who refused to identify himself refused to answer questions despite numerous attempts to provide him with a platform to clarify his claim.

Attempts to obtain clarity from the man, were unsuccessful, despite numerous attempts.

Caxton News Service

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Published by
By Gopolang Chawane