Police apprehend a suspect (24) in connection with UNIVEN murders

SUSPECTED serial killer, Ndivhuho Godfrey Ntsieni (24), a food science and technology student at the University of Venda, appeared briefly before the Thohoyandou magistrate’s court in connection with murder, rape and robbery charges last Thursday.

Ntsieni was arrested last Tuesday in his rented room in Thohoyandou after the police linked him with the death of 45-year-old Brenda Ndove.

Ndove was an employee of the university and was found dead on campus near the old clinic last Friday. She had a deep wound to the back of her head.

Provincial police commissioner, Lt Gen Fannie Masemola, said during a press conference last week that Ntsieni was allegedly found in possession of Ndove’s cell phone. He was also allegedly found in possession of a hairpin that had belonged to another murdered woman, Livhuwani Mbodi, a 22-year-old student at the university. Mbodi was found dead in March, also on campus.

“Mbodi’s head also had a deep wound to the back. She also had other wounds on her back, seemingly caused by the act of pulling her from the original scene of the crime to the dumping place.

Masemola said further investigations revealed that Mbodi was raped before she was murdered.

In April 9-year-old Tshililo Ndou, a learner at Tshishonga Primary School, was found dead in a yard in Golgotha village, which is walking distance from the university. Masemola said investigations revealed that the little girl was raped before being strangled to death.

“Yet another gruesome discovery was made in the same village towards the end of last month. The lifeless body of Zwivhuya Alice Mashau, an 8-year-old learner at Nazarene Primary School, which is a stone throw away from the University of Venda, was found between two piles of sand. Just like in Tshililo’s case, little Zwivhuya was strangled to death after being raped,” Masemola said.

In May another student at the University of Venda, 20-year-old Shudufhadzo Sandy Thagisa, was seriously assaulted in Golgotha village and had to be rushed to a local hospital. Because of the severity of her injuries, Sandy was transferred to the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital from where she was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a health institution in Gauteng. She has since been discharged, Masemola said.

“Following the spate of murders in and around the University of Venda, with the modus operandi in those murders almost identical, the police had every reason to believe that there was a serial killer on the loose. A provincial task team, which specialises in high profile cases was dispatched to the area. Last Tuesday evening the police made a major breakthrough when Ntsieni was arrested in Thohoyandou Unit-C,” Masemola explained.

A fortnight ago Golgotha village residents marched to the Thohoyandou police station and delivered a memorandum of their grievances.

Residents claimed that the above-mentioned murders were ritual-related.

“We now want to put the matter into perspective and state that none of these murders were ritual-related. No body part whatsoever was removed from the bodies of the deceased and the arrested suspect will face charges of murder, rape, robbery and attempted murder,” Masemola stressed.

Ntsieni will remain in custody until October 21, when he will appear again before the Thohoyandou magistrate’s court.

Premier Stanley Mathabatha commended the police for the swift arrest of the suspected serial killer. He congratulated the community for assisting the police to apprehend the suspect, and urged people not to take the law into their own hands.