‘Ninja killer’ was ‘counselled’ by murder cult leader Cecilia Steyn – report

“Samurai killer” Morné Harmse apparently received counseling as a schoolboy from Cecilia Steyn, the mastermind behind the sensational “appointment murders” that rocked the Krugersdorp community, reports Rapport.

According to the report, a reliable police source said they suspect Steyn “prepared” Harmse to become part of her murder cult.

Cecilia, Marcel Steyn and Zac Valentine killed 11 people from 2012 to 2016 in the Krugersdorp area.

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Harmse was paroled on 3 March under “strict conditions” after serving his legislated minimum detention period on 9 June 2019.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of 16-year-old Jacques Pretorius, and the attempted murder of two others, on the school grounds of the Nic Diederichs High Technical School in August 2008.

A source claimed in the report that Harmse was Steyn’s protégé, saying Steyn and Harmse were in close contact with each other before the murder, and that her number was on his cellphone when he was arrested.

Steyn, the notorious leader of the Electus per Deus (Chosen by God) murder gang, along with her accomplices Zak Valentine, John Barnard, Marinda Steyn and her two children Le Roux and Marcel, are serving long sentences for the 11 murders they committed.

The police source also claimed that Steyn and Harmse’s paths definitely crossed earlier.

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Steyn’s father apparently had previously told the police that Harmse had received “counseling” from her.

After Steyn and her group were arrested, detectives wanted to visit Harmse in prison to get a statement, but he did not want to cooperate.

“He and his parents did not want to make statements. Nobody knows if Cecilia’s murder gang started taking shape in her head at that time, but she had plans with Harmse,” the police source said.

Machiel Harmse, the convicted murderer’s father, did not want to speak to the media, telling Rapport they did not want anything to do with stories about their son.

He also did not want to confirm or deny that his son was friends with Cecillia Steyn.

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Singabakho Nxumalo, a spokesperson for the Department of Correctional Services, told the media last week that Harmse appeared before the Zonderwater Management Area Correctional Supervision in Cullinan and Parole Board about eight times before he was released.

Compiled by Xanet Scheepers.