Decomposed body found in Alberton: Siblings claim sister ‘covered up mother’s murder’
Siblings claim they could never reach their mother by phone and that she only communicated via messages, which made them suspicious.
The decomposed body of a woman, discovered in Alberton in November 2023, led to the arrest of her daughter and the daughter’s boyfriend. The victim’s other daughter now claims she and her brother were being misled by their sibling into thinking their mother was still alive weeks after her murder.
The body of Susan Gillian Murray (75) was initially classified as a Jane Doe (unidentified female) after she was discovered in a badly decomposed state near Radio Road in Alberton North early in November 2023.
Murray’s death certificate states that she died on November 3, 2023. Her children believe she might have died long before then.
Murray lived Oribi Street in Verwoerdpark at the time of her death, with her daughter, her seven-year-old grandson and her daughter’s boyfriend.
Her other daughter, Gillian Elser, lived and worked in Oman at the time.
Elser says she and her brother became concerned when their mother didn’t answer their phone calls. Although she still responded to WhatsApp messages, Elser believes it was her sister posing as her mother.
She claims that when her brother tried to arrange visits with their mother, she would send messages asking him not to come, with excuses such as she was not at home or she was at church.
Becoming increasingly suspicious, Elser’s brother decided to arrive at their mother’s home unannounced. He found the house ransacked and valuables, like household appliances, missing.
When he confronted his sister, who lived with their mother, about the situation, she allegedly admitted that Murray had been murdered and claimed to know where her body was dumped.
The police were notified, and a murder investigation launched.
“For about three weeks, she pretended to be my mom even though she knew mom had been murdered,” said Elser, who now lives in KZN.
She positively identified her mother, whose body was kept at the Germiston Mortuary on November 27, 2023.
Her sister and the sister’s boyfriend were arrested on charges of murder, fraud and assault, and have been in custody since the end of November 2023. Their bail application was unsuccessful.
Their case has been mired in postponements since their arrests, with their next court appearance scheduled for April 1 at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.
Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel.
Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal.
Read original story on www.citizen.co.za
