‘Serial killer concentrating on girls in honeymoon hotspot’ as 12 brutalised our bodies discovered
Police have been finding the bodies since July, leading officers to be concerned that a serial killer is targeting people in the area.
Elizabeth Moselakgomo was found dead
A serial killer is feared to be targeting women at a dream honeymoon destination.
A total of 12 women’s bodies have been found in the last few weeks in Ekurhuleni, the municipality next to Johannesburg, South Africa. Police have been finding the remains since mid July, leading officers to be believe a serial killer may be targeting women in the area.
Many of the victims had been stripped naked or partially naked and battered before being dumped on the side of the road, hidden in fields, or chucked in a nearby river. Officers are now looking into anything which could link the victims.
The crimes have all happened around Johannesburg(Image: Getty Images)
Overwhelmed police have supposedly “botched” some parts of the investigation and now there are fears by bosses that a killer could strike again.
Reports state that the dead bodies have been dumped around the nearby O.R. Tambo International Airport – where more than 100 direct British Airways flights land from London every year. Figures show that more than 400,000 Brit holidaymakers visited South Africa last year, with many newlyweds often choosing to visit the country for a safari honeymoon.
Police have not yet publicly confirmed they believe a serial killer is behind the murders, but said “the similarities are sufficiently concerning” to give a public warning. They have also warned women not to go out alone.
And now an expert serial killer hunter has given his opinion on the concerning events in the area.
Family members at Elizabeth’s funeral(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Paul O’Sullivan is an ex-murder cop who caught the infamous Wemmer Pan Killer, a serial murderer who massacred 27 people in the southern suburbs of Johannesburg in the 90s.
He told The Sun he believes police have made a “key mistake in their hunt for whoever is behind the 12 women’s brutal deaths” as they have not released details of how the murders were carried out.
He said: “Obviously, the police have identified that there is a serial killer. One of the quickest ways to catch a serial killer is to publish their modus operandi.”
The modus operandi is a term used by detectives use to describe the distinct, way a criminal may commit a crime.
He continued: “It lets the killer know that you’re onto him and it also warns the public as to the sort of things that they should look out for. It’s a shocking state of affairs when you have the police warning women not to go out alone.”
Mourners walked with Elizabeth’s coffin(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
He also thinks it is one killer behind many of the murders: “You can’t say they’re copycat killers, because nobody knows what the modus operandi of the alleged serial killer is.”
Among the victims are Elizabeth Moselakgomo, who went running and didn’t come home, as well as Dineo Motapane, 38, Itumeleng Kekana, 32, Gracious Nkomo, 28, and Jabulile Ntimba.
Tegan Snyman, from Amnesty International South Africa, told The Sun: “There’s very high distrust in the police. A lot of violence and sexual violence cases fail because of a lack of collection of evidence, procedural errors, not taking the right statements.”
“There’s distrust in South Africa in general about the competency of the police.”
But she hopes media attention will force police to chase down the killer.
Snyman said: “Because it’s now a big case, hopefully attention will be given and attention to detail and it’ll be properly done. But what about all the people that get killed all the time and it doesn’t make it to the news?”
“I hope the families get justice. But with femicide, successful prosecution is one thing, but obviously that the women are still dead.”
Juanita du Preez, CEO of the Action Society, warned that huge backlogs in forensics processing mean that even after a suspect is identified in a murder case, it can take years for the evidence to confirm their guilt.
She told The Sun: “We spend about three and a half years on average for a case until there is a conclusion. And then the criminals go to prison and they get out on parole easily.
“Then the recidivism rate is very, very high, above 90 percent so it becomes an evil, evil, evil loop.”
