Police and officials seen at the house in Olievenhoutbosch where digging for bodies allegedly buried in the yard is continuing, 6 August 2020. Picture: Jacques Nelles
It could take days for police to comb the scene and exhume the bodies of three men after a teenage boy and his mother confessed to killing them over the past years.
The 17-year-old boy, his mother and two other suspects were detained on Tuesday night after confessing to community leaders of committing the alleged murders.
According to deputy chairperson of Sanco’s Olievenhoutbosch branch Kgomotso Khalushi, who was approached by the boy and his mother to confess the crime on Tuesday night, the pair first killed the mother’s boyfriend in 2017.
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The following year, the two then allegedly killed another man, who was the mother’s new boyfriend.
“Apparently the boy hit the boyfriend with a hammer on his head and the mother hammered his limbs to weaken him. They claimed they killed him because he was telling people that the woman had killed her previous boyfriend.”
But apparently the boy’s brother witnessed the alleged killing.
“The brother kept threatening to call the police. Last year, the boy then hit his brother on the head with a bottle, took off his clothes and buried him. It seems he was buried alive because he was still conscious,” Khalushi explained.
The horrific story drew residents to the scene who went against social distancing to gather outside the house where the crime allegedly happened as police, forensics and the K9 unit started the exhumation on Thursday morning.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Mathapelo Peters said the meticulous digging had commenced but would take time.
“We opened a murder case for investigation… We still need to establish if indeed there are remains in the identified space. Should it be found there are human remains, we will need to do a count as they have confessed to killing three people. Then follows the identification process which has to be done forensically through DNA analysis. It’s a process that could take more than one day,” Peters said.
The boy, his mother and two other suspects would be appearing in court on Friday as the confession was currently sufficient evidence for them to be charged.
– rorisangk@citizen.co.za
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