Woman gets 40 years for the murder of Moot vet

Pretoria Moot police have welcomed the heavy sentence, handed down by the Johannesburg High Court to the accused involved in the business robbery and murder of well a well-known local vet.

At the end of September, Linda Samantha Carolina Venter (29), was convicted to 40 years of direct imprisonment for business robbery and the fatal shooting of the owner of the Jakaranda animal hospital in Villieria, Dr Freddy Malan.

Malan was shot and killed at his practice during a business robbery on January 31, 2019, in the Moot.

Venter entered the practice and claimed to have a sick pet. When the door was opened for her, she kept the gate open for her three male accomplices.

They held the staff members and a customer inside the practice at gunpoint and robbed the practice and the customer of equipment and personal belongings.

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During the robbery, Malan was shot and killed by one of the robbers. They fled with stolen items in a silver Nissan Tida.

Detectives from the Pretoria Moot trio task team, under the leadership of Warrant Officer Dennis Mothlaoleng received the case for investigation.

The suspects were linked to other cases in the East Rand.

A detective from Boksburg trio task team, Warrant Officer Robert Ngomane, joined the investigation after they identified that they had a similar case with the same modus operandi.

Soon pieces were falling into place and evidence linked the suspects to both cases in Pretoria Moot and Boksburg. Venter was arrested in September 2019 and has since been in custody in Boksburg prison.

Detective Warrant Officer Mothlaoleng said that this is one of the greatest highlights of his career of 30 years in the SAPS.

“It is a proud moment that I will always remember as I will be going on early retirement at the end of this year,” he said.

Station commander for Pretoria Moot SAPS, Colonel Hlengeni Giben Mashaba welcomed the heavy sentence that was handed down by the court.

“We applaud and thank Mothlaoleng for working around the clock to ensure that justice has been served,” Mashaba said.

Malan qualified as a veterinarian in 1989. After completing his national service as a state veterinarian, he established Jakaranda animal hospital in 1990.

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