Farm killing suspect shot dead
29 July 2010, 14:35
By Sherlissa Peters
On the same day that a KwaZulu-Natal farmer's wife and their two employees were being buried in Rosetta, one of the men suspected of being involved in their murders was shot dead by police.
The suspect tried to shoot a policeman after making a grab for his firearm, police claimed yesterday after arresting four men in connection with the murders.
"The suspect somehow disarmed the police officer and fired a shot. Another police official returned fire in the suspect's direction and he was shot dead," said police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker.
He said the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) was investigating the incident.
Farmer's wife Lorraine Karg, 58, and two employees Hilda Linyane, 34, and Zachues Mhlongo, 65, were killed at the Karg's Sherwood Farm on July 21 in what police believed to have been a botched robbery.
The Kargs are regarded as one of the largest dairy farming families in the Midlands and the tragedy has galvanised the local farming community, which has come out in large numbers to support the family.
Agricultural union Kwanalu praised the swift work of the police in capturing the suspects and said it was now up to the justice system to validate their "sterling" efforts.
"We are extremely grateful to the police. We know just how hard they worked to bring these suspects to book, as they have always done. This was a senseless tragedy and we are really appreciative to the police for all their support," said Kwanalu president, Robin Barnsley.
A relative of the Kargs, who declined to be named, said that while the arrests could not bring their loved ones back, it had brought some degree of closure to the families.
The three victims had reportedly left the farmhouse with Lorraine Karg's husband, Neville, on the night of July 21 to douse a fire that was believed to have been deliberately started on the farm as a decoy to draw them away from the house.
However, Lorraine returned to the house to collect more implements and summon more staff to help put out the fire, when police believe she was attacked.
Neville later found their domestic worker, Linyane, lying in the doorway of the house. She had been shot dead, while Mhlongo, the couple's gardener of 25 years, was found stabbed to death in front of the house.
Karg found his wife's body near her car. She had been stabbed and her throat was slit.
Naicker confirmed yesterday that members of the Pietermaritzburg Organised Crime Unit had arrested four men at Hlatikulu in the Mooi River area. The suspects are aged between 21 and 31, and have been charged with murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
However, while a policeman tried to take the fingerprints of one of the suspects at the Mooi River Community Centre, the suspect managed to disarm him and attempted to shoot the policeman.
The suspect was shot dead.
The remaining three suspects are expected to appear in the Mooi River Magistrate's Court tomorrow.
On the same day that a KwaZulu-Natal farmer's wife and their two employees were being buried in Rosetta, one of the men suspected of being involved in their murders was shot dead by police.
The suspect tried to shoot a policeman after making a grab for his firearm, police claimed yesterday after arresting four men in connection with the murders.
"The suspect somehow disarmed the police officer and fired a shot. Another police official returned fire in the suspect's direction and he was shot dead," said police spokesman Colonel Jay Naicker.
He said the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) was investigating the incident.
Farmer's wife Lorraine Karg, 58, and two employees Hilda Linyane, 34, and Zachues Mhlongo, 65, were killed at the Karg's Sherwood Farm on July 21 in what police believed to have been a botched robbery.
The Kargs are regarded as one of the largest dairy farming families in the Midlands and the tragedy has galvanised the local farming community, which has come out in large numbers to support the family.
Agricultural union Kwanalu praised the swift work of the police in capturing the suspects and said it was now up to the justice system to validate their "sterling" efforts.
"We are extremely grateful to the police. We know just how hard they worked to bring these suspects to book, as they have always done. This was a senseless tragedy and we are really appreciative to the police for all their support," said Kwanalu president, Robin Barnsley.
A relative of the Kargs, who declined to be named, said that while the arrests could not bring their loved ones back, it had brought some degree of closure to the families.
The three victims had reportedly left the farmhouse with Lorraine Karg's husband, Neville, on the night of July 21 to douse a fire that was believed to have been deliberately started on the farm as a decoy to draw them away from the house.
However, Lorraine returned to the house to collect more implements and summon more staff to help put out the fire, when police believe she was attacked.
Neville later found their domestic worker, Linyane, lying in the doorway of the house. She had been shot dead, while Mhlongo, the couple's gardener of 25 years, was found stabbed to death in front of the house.
Karg found his wife's body near her car. She had been stabbed and her throat was slit.
Naicker confirmed yesterday that members of the Pietermaritzburg Organised Crime Unit had arrested four men at Hlatikulu in the Mooi River area. The suspects are aged between 21 and 31, and have been charged with murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
However, while a policeman tried to take the fingerprints of one of the suspects at the Mooi River Community Centre, the suspect managed to disarm him and attempted to shoot the policeman.
The suspect was shot dead.
The remaining three suspects are expected to appear in the Mooi River Magistrate's Court tomorrow.
- This article was originally published on page 5 of The Daily News on July 29, 2010
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