Families of murdered young couple still seek justice

More than a year later the families of Johanco Fleischman and his girlfriend Jessica Kuhn are still hoping that justice will be served for the murder of their children.

The young couple was gunned down on the N12 Putfontein Bridge on May 26, last year, while waiting for assistance after their bakkie ran out of fuel.

Kuhn’s mother, Johanna, said the family is still trying to cope with Jessica’s death.

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“It is not easy. We still get very bad days especially myself as I still struggle a lot to cope with her death,” she told the City Times last week.

“I just want justice to be served; the police must start doing their job and find the people who murdered our children.”

Johanna said they haven’t had any feedback from the police regarding the case.

“They came to us once but even then they didn’t give us any news.”

She said she misses her daughter so much – her hugs, voice, laughter, and everything about her.

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Fleischman’s mother, Marika, said her family regularly calls the police to find out if there are any developments.

She said she misses her son dearly and some days are better than others.

“The pain, memories, and the longing to see her son won’t go away, all we need is justice to be served,” she said.

Justice specialist private investigator in serious violent crime Vince Harris, who was hired by the Fleischman family, said there have been no developments in the case.

He confirmed they are working on it.

“The families are aware of what is happening with the investigation, even though we are not in contact with them frequently,” he said.

Harris and a team of special investigators, working for Mike Bolhuis who owns a private investigation business, previously told the City Times his team believes the incident was neither an intended robbery nor an organised hit.

“We suspect those associated with the zama zamas in the area are behind the attack,” he said.

“The illegal mining industry is a well-organised crime syndicate and occurs across the country.”

Recap of the incident

Fleischman and Kuhn, along with two other passengers identified as workers, were en-route to Benoni from a pig farm in Kendal when the vehicle they were traveling in ran out of fuel.

The victims took the Putfontein bridge off-ramp to park the vehicle and requested help from an acquaintance over the phone.

While they were awaiting assistance, the suspects approached the vehicle and apparently called Fleischman a mlungu (white person) just before they opened fire.

Kuhn was shot fatally in the upper body and Fleischman was shot in the head and upper body.

Both the workers fled from the crime scene.

Harris confirmed 14 9mm cartridges were found on the crime scene.

No update on the case from the SAPS was received at the time of publication.