Mom calls cops on robber son
Live by the gun, die by the gun - that is a lesson the wanted criminal Kennet Kunene learnt the hard way, after attacking an elderly couple with two accomplices in the sanctuary of their home on Monday.
Mr Fanie Schoeman (76), who was stabbed seven times in the back during a break in at his Komati Street home on Monday, has been hailed as a hero by his children.
Mr Schoeman, who was discharged from hospital on Wednesday, told the Observer in the house where the attack took place shortly after 08:00 on Monday morning, that he refuses to have his wife of 54-years, violated by a common criminal.
The couple would have celebrated their 54th anniversary on Tuesday, but their plans were foiled by the attack.
Mr Schoeman says after he opened the front door for their domestic worker, he went to the toilet.
“As soon as I stuck my head out of the door, one of the robbers punched me, and I knew the time has come for me to fight or die,” Mr Schoeman said.
He fought to keep them from entering the bedroom where his wife, Rola, was lying in bed.
Mr Schoeman says he does not know when or how many times he was stabbed in the robber’s efforts to subdue him.
“I knew my Magnum Special was under my pillow, and the only thing I could think of was getting my hands on the butt,” he told the Observer.
See video here:
Video: Stabbed seven times, but shot him dead
Well, Mr Schoeman succeeded, and one of the robbers, Kennet Kunene (35), is dead.
A single shot fired by Mr Schoeman during the ongoing struggle on his bed, hit Kunene in the chest.
Meanwhile, his accomplice was struggling with Mrs Schoeman in bed.
She recalled on Wednesday, after the initial shock had dissipated, how the man had tried to strangle her with Weed Eater gut.
She however succeeded in kicking him from the bed, after which she grabbed a chair and beat the man to his senses.
Both men immediately fled after Mr Schoeman fired the shot.
“The bugger was strong, after being wounded he still wrestled me for the gun which he took alongside my wallet and ran,” Mr Schoeman says.
Realising he was in trouble, Kunene phoned his mother, told her someone had shot him and that she had to summon an ambulance.
Instead, his frantic mother phoned the police and directed them towards the railway bridge behind the suburb, where Kunene was found bleeding.
Underneath him, police found Mr Schoeman’s Magnum with which Kunene was fatally shot.
The bullet hit Kunene in the side of his chest and came out at the back. He died around 20:20 in the Middelburg Hospital, the same day.
Mr Schoeman said, after wounding Kunene, he continued wrestling him for the gun.
“I was so weak by that time, that the robber succeeded in disarming me, after which he grabbed my wallet and ran,” Mr Schoeman recalls.
SAPS forensic investigators found a bloody handprint on the foot-end of the bed, which was bagged for analysis.
“We were told that detectives extracted a lot of credible information about the other two robbers before the wounded man passed away,” Mr Schoeman told the Observer. According to captain Khanyisile Zwane, more arrests can be expected soon.
She said Kunene died before signing the statement that he made to police.
The statement will now be taken to court, to be declared admissible as a statement of a dying man.
Captain Zwane also confirmed that Kunene was wanted by a number of other police stations for various crimes.
Apart from the stab wounds, Mr Schoeman sustained a broken rib.
Mrs Schoeman, who also fought ferociously against the violent robbers, will celebrate her 75th birthday on Saturday.
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