One of my favourite true crime cases in South Africa is The Station Strangler, also known as Norman Azval Simons. Interestingly, Simons was only found guilty of one murder and not 22.
The last of the victims was Elroy van Rooyen. He was only 10 years old when he was abducted, abused, and strangled to death.
Most of the boys killed were lured away from train stations. For Elroy, it was the R10 he was promised to help carry boxes. This was 1994 and R10 was a lot of money for a 10-year-old.
ALSO READ: Alison Botha – a remarkable woman
After the horrific discovery of 22 decomposing bodies, found bound and face down, the community was outraged, with good reason.
The police assembled a task team and it wasn’t long before Simons was arrested.
According to a witness at the time, she saw a man with two young boys, Elroy and his cousin Ryno, walking towards the train station.
An identikit was drawn up and Simons bore a resemblance to the identikit.
A profile of the offender was drawn up by Micki Pistorius, who was a police psychologist at the time. Simons fit this profile like a glove but so did hundreds of other men in Mitchell’s Plain.
There was also DNA found on young Elroy’s body which didn’t match Simon’s – but in those days DNA testing was not what it is today.
Did the police catch The Station Strangler? Or did they just arrest the first person to match the description?
Simons did confess, but then retracted his confession later.
We need to also remember that police brutality was still very possible in those days.
Still, some things that Simons wrote in a letter make me wonder “I’ll speak to the kids. The innocent kids would listen to me and carry out instructions.”
In 2010, the police again took the DNA samples and re-tested it against Simons, again it was not a match.
Are we to believe that this 10-year-old boy was abused twice in one day by two different men?
Norman Simons was behind bars for 28 years and was released on parole earlier this year.
Dr Gérard Labuschagne has stated that: “if Simons was to be put on trial today, with the same evidence, he is certain that Simons would be found not guilty.”
I hope that one day there will be justice for these boys.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Monique Botha is a divorced mother of two and has been living on the South Coast for five years. She completed her higher certificate in criminal justice and is in her final year of completing her bachelor’s degree in criminology. She believes in lifelong learning and is proof that one is never too old to make your dreams a reality.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
