I recently talked about mass murders, and then I read the book ‘Sizzlers’ by Nicole Engelbrecht. What a book! If you haven’t read it yet, make sure to get yourself a copy.
In the early hours of January 20, 2003, 10 families’ lives were about to be shattered.
The area of 7 Graham Road, Sea Point in Cape Town, was a gay massage parlour named Sizzlers.
This establishment was run by owner Aubrey Otgaar, also known as Eric.
On this fateful night, the owner, one customer and eight young men were on the premises when Adam Woest and Trevor Theys pretended to be clients to gain access to the property.
Once inside, they tied everyone up, searched the premises for valuables, and then started stabbing all the men. And, if this wasn’t enough, they shot them, too – a deadly massacre for a mere R2000.
What these perpetrators didn’t expect was that one victim would survive, Quinton Taylor.
“Please help me. I don’t want to die!” Taylor cried out as he collapsed on the floor. His throat had been slit, shot twice in the head, and left for dead.
Doctors called it a miracle that he survived his injuries. He talks bravely in the book about how this horrific incident made him a stronger person.
If not for his testimony, these two killers might have gotten away with it.
Theys and Woest blamed each other as the mastermind of this massacre, but Taylor’s testimony points to Woest as being in charge.
He mentioned that Theys showed some compassion, but still, they killed nine people.
Theys and Woest both received nine life sentences and 20 years imprisonment for the attempted murder of Taylor.
Unfortunately, these ran concurrently. After serving only five years, Theys died in prison from a heart condition.
Woest, however, is still in prison, but for how long?
He has already had his first parole hearing, which was denied, but who knows what will happen at the next one.
The biggest question I had in reading this book was why. Why did they kill nine people? They spent about three hours in that house.
They claimed that robbery was their motive, and robberies do go wrong sometimes, and people do die, but nine people?
Could this have been a hate crime? They went in unmasked, which normally tells us there will be no survivors.
In his parole hearing, Woest stated that he had always had a deep desire to kill.
So, were these young men just unlucky, or were they targeted because of their lifestyle?
Timothy Boyd, Sergio de Castro, Stephanus Fouché, Johan Meyer, Marius Meyer, Travis Reade, Warren Visser, Gregory Berghaus and Aubrey Otgaar – we remember you.
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