UPDATE: House guests may be behind Lakeside murder

The recent death of a 59-year-old man who was found with various wounds to his upper back in his Lakeside guest house on Saturday previously thought to have been motivated by robbery is now thought to have been perpetrated by guests he was hosting.

According to reports, Patrick Johannes had been shot and stabbed six times and the crime was reported by two guests – one German and one Spanish national – who were asleep at the time of the robbery and locked themselves in their room when they heard gunshots being fired.

IOL reports that police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk said police were investigating the circumstances that led to the death of Johannes at his Bunker Road home in Lakeside.

A computer monitor and two television sets have been confirmed stolen during the house-breaking.

“A murder and house robbery case was registered for investigation. The deceased had succumbed to various wounds inflicted on his upper back. Police are still conducting an investigation, crime scene experts are combing the scene for clues,” explained van Wyk.

Johannes has reportedly been hosting guests in his home using online hospitality service Airbnb and a number of other services over the past few years and, according to his brother Edward Johannes, Patrick had hosted guests who got “out of hand” the day before his death.

However, Airbnb confirmed to the publication that no guests had booked into the home over the past week using their service.

Police have requested that anyone with information about the murder contact the investigating officer, Warrant Officer E Ganz, on 082 522 1809.

Update: A previous version of this article stated that Airbnb guests were believed to have been behind Johannes’ murder. It should be noted that Johannes made use of a number of hosting services and he recently had not received any bookings through AirBnb. 

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