SECUNDA – Mr Walter van Niekerk shivers whenever he thinks about what could have happened if the man who has been arrested for the murder of an elderly Secunda woman, got his hands on Mr Van Niekerk’s 11-year-old daughter on the night he broke into the family’s home.
Ms Corrienne Tesner (62) was stabbed to death in her apartment in Hodgson Street on 23 February before the murderer made off in her car with several stolen goods.
While the police were tracing the activities on Ms Tesner’s stolen cell phones as part of their investigation, the man whom they are now charging with murder, was apparently still active as a burglar in Secunda.
He was linked with the murder only after Mr Van Niekerk apprehended him on the night of the burglary in Okavango Street.
According to Mr Van Niekerk, the motor gate was acting up when his wife and a friend quickly went out to the petrol station.
“I think the burglar slipped into the yard just before I went out to repair the gate,” explained Mr Van Niekerk.
“I locked the security gate as soon as I entered the house.”
The burglar apparently used two screwdrivers to force open the security gate.
He sneaked into the kitchen where he grabbed a knife and then snatched a laptop off the dining room table.
Mr Van Niekerk’s daughter heard movement in the living area and left her room to investigate.
She gave a blood curdling scream when she saw the stranger who allegedly pointed the knife in her direction.
“My son (8) heard the commotion and ran into the bathroom.
“I bolted out of the shower, grabbing a towel on the way out and tackled the burglar on the front porch.”
According to Mr Van Niekerk, the burglar tried to stab him with the knife and screwdriver during the brawl.
“I rushed after him when he jumped over the wall between my house and neighbouring flat on the premises.”
Mr Van Niekerk and the neighbour trapped the burglar and subdued him with the help of other members of the public and StratconRisk.
“Only then did I realise I had lost my towel on the porch,” said Mr Van Niekerk.
Mr Jacques Fourie of Stratcon handed the suspect over to his colleagues who took the burglar to the police station.
According to Capt Bettina Zondo, spokesman of the Secunda Police, the suspect was charged with burglary and appeared in the Secunda Magistrate’s Court the next day.
The breakthrough in the murder investigation came when detectives went to confirm the suspect’s address.
They discovered the address he gave to the police was the same as an address that was being pointed out in the investigation of Ms Tesner’s stolen cell phones.
Some of the items stolen from Ms Tesner’s apartment, were also found at the particular address.
Capt Zondo said the suspect was questioned and he confessed to raping and murdering Ms Tesner, and then stealing her vehicle.
He apparently told the police that he first burned his blood soaked clothes and then proceeded to pick up his brother from a prayer meeting.
“Both of them went to Limpopo to sell the car,” said Capt Zondo.
The detectives found the car abandoned in Limpopo.
“He informed the police that his motive was housebreaking, thinking that there was no one in the room. He decided to stab and rape the elderly woman, because she fought him,” said Capt Zondo.
The suspect was charged on Wednesday 24 April with murder, rape, house robbery and theft of a motor vehicle and appeared in front of Magistrate Faith Kekana on 25 April.
His left arm was bandaged and in a sling.
He simultaneously appeared in court for the burglary of Mr Van Niekerk’s home.
His brother (36) appeared with him in the dock on a charge of theft of a motor vehicle.
The brother was granted bail of R1 000.
The pair will again appear in court on 6 May when the suspect wants to apply for bail.
Also read:
BREAKING NEWS: Man confesses to police that he murdered Secunda woman
