Two suspects have been positively identified and arrested for the brutal murder of 60-year-old Greenhills resident Annatjie Smith.
The story shocked Randfontein last year when it was reported that Smith was beaten to death during a house robbery at her Nightingale Street home.
The two suspects also severely assaulted an 89-year-old woman and gagged an almost two-year-old child with a sock before fleeing from the scene.
According to Randfontein SAPS spokesperson Captain Appel Ernst, CCTV footage received from one of Smith’s neighbours was the cornerstone of the investigation and ultimately led to the identification of the suspects.
“We also received information from certain informers which helped connect the dots,” says Ernst.
“Our officers then tasked these informers to be on the lookout for the suspects and we had a breakthrough into the case.
“It turned out that the suspects were already in custody in Soweto for another murder that occurred in that area,” says Ernst.
She adds that investigating officers were able to link one of the suspects arrested in Soweto to the incident that occurred in Greenhills.
“During the invenstigation, our officers were also able to recover stolen property belonging to the deceased.
“Shortly thereafter, the officers were able to identify the second suspect and he too was positively linked to the case and was immediately arrested,” says Ernst.
Both suspects are aged 23-years-old and have appeared at the Randfontein Magistrates’s Court on 12 September where they were charged with murder.
They have been in custody ever since.
“We commend the investigating officers for their diligence and commitment to the case.”
