Middelburg ‘murder’ mystery may involve well-known cop

The discovery of a 32-year-old woman’s lifeless body on the side of the road in Kranspoort, Mpumalanga, has prompted tentative links to a series of strange events, possibly involving a prominent police officer. For the purposes of this article, he will be referred to as the Captain.

The Captain, a well-known police officer in the province, was on the scene in Kranspoort, Mpumalanga on Sunday, where the woman was declared dead by paramedics in the evening, reports Middelburg Observer.

There was speculation among authorities on the scene that the woman may have jumped out of a moving vehicle, as she was found with serious head injuries.

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The Captain was reportedly very emotional on the scene.

Reliable sources confirmed that the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) are currently undertaking an investigation, and are expected to release a report.

Middelburg Observer attempted to contact the Captain on Monday evening to ask if he knew what may have taken place at the scene on Sunday night. He was also contacted on Tuesday morning, but the second he heard a journalist’s voice, he put the phone down.

The Captain was in the news three years ago, after a young woman was found on a pavement in the early hours of February 2016.

Video footage showed how the Captain carried her out of a club in Middelburg. Three hours later, a cyclist stumbled upon the same woman, who was found bloodied but alive.

The young woman later said that the Captain “drove far” with her, before they came to a standstill outside a house, where she met a woman who handed her a pill and a glass of water. The young woman said she remembers getting back in the car, but nothing further from that evening.

The morning she was discovered, her chin was badly cut open and her clothes were full of blood. Her hands were scratched and raw, and she said her arms were sensitive.

The video footage from 2016 showed the young woman partying with other young people when the Captain arrives at the club around midnight. A short while later, the footage shows him giving the woman a hug.

At around 1:45am, the young woman was partying with the Captain and another unknown male. From there she can be seen going to the bathroom, where she spent several minutes.

A while later, the young woman emerges from the bathroom, but is visibly unstable on her feet. She falls towards the Captain, who ends up piggy-backing her out of the club.

The pavement where the young woman was found was where her parents used to reside. The woman’s father was furious, saying that his child would not have exited the vehicle outside a house where they used to live.

The investigations continue. Updates to be made available as more information comes to light.

The police officer in question is known to the Middelburg Observer, but he has not yet been charged, and his identity is therefore being withheld.

This article was translated from Afrikaans by Nica Schreuder.

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