Brazen Maritzburg ‘serial killer’ of the elderly finally arrested

The alleged serial killer who brutally murdered three pensioners on separate occasions was arrested as he apparently brazenly returned to the Jacaranda Lodge in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal at 1.30am this morning to strike again.

The Maritzburg Sun reports that alert security guards spotted the suspect lurking in the shadows of the old age home and apprehended him. Police rushed to the scene and arrested the suspect, who the night before had allegedly slit the throat of 89-year-old Patricia Elizabeth Tugwell, the third victim within a month.

Tugwell’s body was found at her apartment in the Jacaranda Lodge, a retirement village in Pietermaritz Street, on Tuesday morning. According to the police report, she was found by a staff member in a pool of blood.

On July 21, an 89-year-old disabled man was also found murdered at the Jacaranda Lodge. He had been stabbed in the head. A pair of scissors was found at the scene. Electronic goods were stolen.

A week prior, a 92-year-old resident at the Kenwyn Old Age Home, also on Pietermaritz Street, was found dead by a cleaner. It is believed the woman had been strangled to death while a small flat-screen TV and two cellphones were taken.

Police sources told Capital Newspapers that the 27-year-old suspect was positively linked through fingerprints to all three murders and another housebreaking in town.

On Wednesday afternoon detectives were still interrogating the suspect, doing a pointing out of the scene and the recovery of exhibits. The suspect was expected to make a confession in court.

In the wake of Tugwell’s murder, the second at the facility, panic-stricken residents and their families said they had feared for their lives after the murders. Little did anyone suspect that the killer would try to strike again the very next night.

Pietermaritzburg & District Council for the Care of the Aged CEO Trevor Clowes said old age homes and the SAPS were on high alert following a spate of murders targeting the elderly.

“We are appalled at the senseless violence against the frail, defenceless elders in our community. The safety of all our residents is of paramount importance and we are fully aware of the expectations placed on us by the residents and their families when it comes to security,” he said.

An elderly resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he and his wife had moved to the Jacaranda retirement home in search of safer living conditions after being victims of crime nine times in their home in Dunveria.

“We have been victims before, and never did I think we’d fall victim to crime again. This should not happen; the elderly need peace of mind,” said the pensioner.