LIMPOPO – A 27-year-old man has been apprehended and charged with the murder of an 80-year-old resident of Louis Trichardt.
The accused was arrested on Saturday (September 25) two days after the body of the elderly woman was found lying in a pool of blood inside her home.
According to police spokesperson Brig Motlafela Mojapelo the suspect was arrested while attempting to flee South Africa. “The man was arrested at Tshikundo after he was spotted trying to cross the Limpopo River into Zimbabwe. He was driving the bakkie which belongs to the deceased,” he explained.
The body of the deceased, who has since been identified as Marthie Pauer was found by a friend of the family on Thursday evening (September 23).
According to earlier police reports her son, who is a warrant officer in the South African Police Services (SAPS) had phoned his mother several times the day before without any success. On Thursday he asked his partner to go to his mother’s house to check on her well-being.
The partner arrived at the house at around 19:00 and when she entered she found the body of the deceased.
Read more: Woman brutally murdered in Louis Trichardt home
A case of murder was opened and at the time the police called on a former employee of the deceased to assist in their investigation.
The accused is expected to appear in the Makhado Magistrate’S Court today.