Update: Murder remains unsolved
It has been a little over a year after local businessman Tony da Silva was murdered in cold blood. No one has been arrested for his murder.
An eyewitness saw how a car approached Mr Da Silva’s vehicle whilst they were waiting for a traffic light to turn green.
Mr Da Silva was on his way back from Komati, it was already dark. Two men jumped out and shot Mr Da Silva in the chest twice whilst he was still sitting behind the steering wheel of his Nissan NP200. His body was pulled out and dumped next to the road before one of his assailants sped off in his car.
A large amount of cash and his cellphone was found in Mr Da Silva’s possession. His burnt out vehicle was later discovered in eMalahleni.
Several leads led to nothing and the trail has since run cold. Mr Da Silva’s death leaves several unanswered questions.
Why did his attackers shoot without warning? Why did they shoot to kill, pumping two bullets into his chest at close range in what is generally known as a “double tap” when he was not seen as a threat at that time.
A double tap is a technique used by trained gun users like police officers and special forces. It increases the accuracy of the shooter’s aim as the first shot is often fired when the pistol is not fully extended yet.
The two shots that pierced Mr Da Silva’s chest pierced his heart and lungs.
Retired forensic specialist, col. Anton Crafford, said that it is very uncommon for a double tap to occur where someone has been killed by gunshot.
Most of the victims he studied only had one shot. He said that Mr Da Silva’s murderer was so close to the vehicle that one shot to the head would have sufficed.
The double tap indicates that his assailants wanted to make sure that he did not survive the ordeal.
Why did the men not search him? If their motive was robbery, surely they would have made double sure that he did not have any valuables on him?
It might be that they did not have enough time, or the money was of no importance to them because their motive was to murder and not to rob.
Why did they burn his car? Col. Crafford said that the burning of the vehicle shows that Mr Da Silva’s murderers wanted to make sure that no forensic evidence remained behind that could lead to their capture.
He agrees that the motive for the murder was definitely not to hi-jack the vehicle because they could have hidden it and chopped it up for parts.
Read previous story here:
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