Benoni brothers ‘linked to head found in septic tank’ to continue bail bid

Two of the four men arrested for murder, the possession of 19 guns, defeating the ends of justice and theft abandoned their formal bail application in the Daveyton Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

Two other accused, who are brothers, told the court they would still be bringing their bail application.

The four men find themselves in the middle of a case which centres on the discovery of a severed head in a septic tank and, in a separate find, a badly burnt body with a bullet wound.

During their arrests, the men were found in possession of 10 unlicensed firearms and nine licensed guns.

Eugene Robert, 44, Mduduzi Mike Mpotsane, 35, Ronald Halmes, 44, and Jean Pierre Halmes, 27, appeared in court on Thursday.

Robert and Mpotsane have abandoned their bail application, while the Halmes brothers will be bringing their application on 28 August.

Mpotsane is facing a charge of theft while the two Halmes men and Robert are facing three counts of murder and defeating the ends of justice.

???? Two siblings appeared before the Benoni magistrate court yesterday & were denied bail & remanded in custody following the recovery of 19 firearms, 10 of which are illegal & the discovery of a severed human head in Putfontein. pic.twitter.com/TNdCWcHRPm

— STAY SAFE RSA ???????? (@stolencarRSA) August 7, 2020

Earlier, police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said that in May 2020 police opened an inquest docket after discovering the badly burnt body of an unknown man with a gunshot wound in Putfontein.

“Coincidentally, a family member came to report a missing person at the police station and police were able to confirm that the badly burnt body was in fact that of the missing person. For this, a murder case was then registered for further investigation.

“Subsequent investigations led police to the deceased’s landlord and further revealed that the same landlord could possibly be linked to a June 2019 murder case where the victim was decapitated and the head dumped in a septic tank in another plot in Putfontein,” Peters said.

On 2 August, the landlord was arrested and found in possession of an unlicensed firearm and multiple rounds of ammunition.

“Two days later, police investigations led them to Benoni where they found five illegal firearms and ammunition. A suspect is yet to be arrested. Police then went to a different plot in Putfontein and searched the property and six more firearms and ammunition were found, one of which was illegal.”

Peters said it was while searching this Putfontein plot that officers found a human head inside a septic tank.

“Two suspects who are brothers were then arrested for murder and for possession of illegal firearm and ammunition.

“On 5 August, police visited three other addresses and found more illegal firearms and ammunition, bringing the total to 10 recovered illegal firearms, including rifles, and nine other firearms confirmed to be licensed,” Peters said.

The 19 firearms will be taken for ballistic testing to establish if they had been used in other offences.

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