Much loved timber farmer murdered

SABIE – “We just shot your husband!” These were the devastating words that greeted a wife when four armed men overpowered her this morning at her farmhouse and forced their way through the door.

Mr Paul Mason (63) was shot dead in cold blood at approximately 09:00 on Thursday morning. It is believed that four suspects managed to gain entrance to their property by cutting a hole through the fence. They then allegedly attacked the Mason’s aged gardener and tied him up. After they hid him inside a generator room on the property, the perpretators waited for more than an hour to ambush Mason and his wife Gwen.

The Mason couple were apparently checking on their timber crews in the vast plantations surrounding their house. On their arrival back at their farmhouse at around 09:00 Ms Mason went inside the house while her husband was checking the bakkiesakkie on his vehicle.

It is unsure what happened next but it is believed that Mason spotted the suspects as they approached him. Two shots were fired that left the vulnerable man lying fatally wounded outside his house while his wife frantically attempted to close the door on the attackers. Mason died on the scene.

The attackers managed to force their way into the house and after tying Ms Mason up, locked her inside the bathroom. They then proceeded to ransack the house.

The thugs apparently took several firearms, jewellery, some cash, laptops and cellphones before fleeing on foot.

All this while their traumatised surviving victim had to sit helpless inside the bathroom.

Using a small cross she painstakingly worked through her bonds, and eventually managed to free herself. She contacted neighbours who in turn contacted Tusk Security and J&M Security.

“These guys and the Sabie police were on the scene within moments,” said a neighbour who was one of the first to arrive on the sad scene. He was visibly shaken and said that he had fought fires with Mason, and that he was “such a wonderful man.” He added that one could always push on Mason’s button for help.

The couple’s three young dogs were so traumatised that they had to be physically removed from the house as they refused to budge.

With Lowvelder’s arrival on the scene Ms Mason was bravely attempting to assist the police but was in visible shock. Her brother, other family members and several neighbours had arrived to assist her and offer their comfort.

Mason was a well loved member of the local community and extremely respected in the timber industry. Mason was one of the few remaining private owners of forestry ground.

In 2010 he was also attacked when a gang of armed men stole thousands rands worth of chainsaws from his property. The timber industry has been suffering severely from these increasingly violent attacks that accompany the theft of chainsaws and other timber related goods.

Mr Pieter Knipschild, chairperson of the Lowveld Timber Theft Forum said they were shocked to hear about the attack. He went to the scene to assist.

At the time of going to print the police confirmed that they were investigating the murder.