Police are still on the hunt for two armed men after they shot and killed 53-year-old businessman John Lyons at the security-tight Woodhill Golf Estate earlier this month.
Garsfontein police spokesperson Warrant Officer Dave Miller told Rekord the men were still at large. “Police followed up on information, but no arrests have been made yet.”
About 15 security guards were on patrol when criminals shot Lyons dead in his own home on 6 March.
According to a source who asked not be named, the two attackers first tried to break into Lyons’ neighbour’s home in Observatory Avenue, but their doors were locked.
The Lyons couple had failed to lock their doors, thinking they were safe in the estate, which is protected by electric fences and state-of-the-art cameras. Initial indications were that the two criminals entered the estate through one of its four gates.
John and Linda Lyons were woken by a commotion in the house. Upon investigation, they found two armed men on the property. The intruders spotted the couple, held them at gunpoint and tied them up.
John managed to untie himself and pursued the armed robbers. A fight broke out, and during the struggle a shot went off, hitting John in the upper body and killing him on the spot.
The criminals left swiftly and escaped within minutes from the estate through one of the gates.
A forensic team was deployed at the estate last week where evidence revealed that the two killers might have escaped through the electric fence near the De Villebois entrance.
The murder raised questions about the whereabouts of the estate’s security guards on the night of the killing. A source told Rekord there were no guards at the scene when he arrived. He also claimed to have been the first to alert the police.
Another anonymous source said the estate had hired 20 additional guards after the murder. “My understanding is that there were no guards patrolling the parameters of the estate that night,” he said. Tactical manager of the estate, Dolf Denner, disputed this. “It is hogwash that no guards were on the scene. The guards patrolling the perimeters of the estate heard the screams and shots and went to investigate. They were there first.”
Read: Man shot and killed in upmarket Pretoria estate
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