Chilling final pic of Brit TV couple hours earlier than their bloodied our bodies had been fed to crocs
Botanists, Rod and Rachel Saunders were ambushed and murdered in South Africa just days after filming a BBC Gardeners’ World TV special, with their bodies thrown into a crocodile-infested river
TV Gardeners World host Nick Bailey took this selfie with botanists Rod and Rachel Saunders in the Drakensberg Mountains which was one of the last photo’s of them alive which he posted on his own Twitter account. Copyright : Nick Bailey/Twitter.
An ISIS-affiliated group who brutally murdered a British couple before feeding their blood-soaked bodies to crocodiles, were sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday. Internationally acclaimed horticulturists Rod, 74, and his wife Rachel, 63, were ambushed and killed in South Africa just days after filming a special for BBC Gardeners World TV.
TV host Nick Bailey spent a day with the esteemed wild-flower experts to film a documentary, bidding them farewell only for them to be savagely killed 48 hours later. The couple had left Nick and his crew in the Drakensberg Mountains and travelled to a secluded forest where they intended to hunt for rare gladioli flowers for their seeds.
However, a wicked ISIS-influenced psychopath spotted them setting up camp and enlisted his Muslim wife and their Muslim convert lodger in a plot to ruthlessly rob and murder them.
Last month, Sayefundeen Del Vecchio, 44, his wife Bibi Fatima Patel, 34, and lodger Mussa Jackson, 40, were found guilty of double murder, kidnapping and armed robbery.
Yesterday, gang leader Del Vecchio and his wife Patel declined to leave their cells at Durban High Court to face sentencing, leaving only Jackson to stand in the dock for judgement.
Judge Esther Steyn recounted how Rod and Rachel were bound and brutally tortured for her gold card credit card PIN number and bank details before being mercilessly killed.
A machete-like blade, a knife and a heavy object were used to batter, slash and stab the couple to death who were then trussed up by Del Vecchio inside their sleeping bags.
Del Vecchio, an ISIS-supporting fanatic, had previously informed his wife and lodger that the elderly couple were a “good hunt” and a “target” he was tracking on 9 February 2018.
On 10 February, Del Vecchio messaged them both again, stating he “had the target” and declared his “prey are in hellfire”, instructing them to meet him in their stolen Land Cruiser Toyota 4×4.
Del Vecchio also texted: “Kill the kuffar (non-believer). When the brothers go out and do this work it is very important that the bodies of the victims are never ever found”.
His wife Patel and lodger Jackson met Del Vecchio at the Tugela River Bridge in the Ngoye Forest National Park, 90 miles north of Durban in Kwa-Zulu Natal province, as instructed.
There, they assisted him in removing the murdered Rod and Rachel from their blood-soaked 4×4 and tossed their bodies, encased in sleeping bags, over the side into the crocodile-infested river below.
Their bodies were discovered a week later but had been so severely mutilated by the predators and other wildlife that it took three pathologists, including a dental expert, months to identify them.
By then, the trio were in custody, having been arrested on 15 February after friends of the Saunders reported them missing and police traced the use of their stolen credit cards.
The gang had embarked on a spending spree, squandering R734,000 (£37,000) in just two days on items for themselves, as well as on bitcoin and transferring money into their own bank accounts.
Officers swooped on the trio’s home was searched, revealing camping equipment, laptops, phones and jewellery belonging to the Saunders, and a few days later their stolen 4 x 4 was located.
All three were charged with double murder, kidnapping and aggravated burglary, and were handed two double life sentences plus an additional 23 years yesterday.
The court heard that the dedicated couple had been married for 30 years and resided in Cape Town, but each year they would drive 1000 miles north to hunt for rare flower seeds in the wilderness.
They had met TV presenter Bailey to film in the Drakensberg Mountains and had their last photo taken with him before continuing on their expedition where they tragically lost their lives.
Nick shared a selfie of the three of them on his Instagram, praising their “incredible insight and knowledge” of South African flora and fauna as he expressed his gratitude for their filming contribution.
That was back in 2018, but it has taken eight years for justice to be served through the slow court system for the trio who murdered Rod and Rachel somewhere between eShowe and Mthunzini.
The Saunders embarked on annual expeditions to discover rare South African flower seeds which they sold globally to thousands of customers via their company Summerhill Seeds.
Italian-born Del Vecchio had converted to Islam, and his wife Patel was the daughter of a Muslim cleric, while the third member, Malawian-born Jackson, had also converted to Islam.
Judge Steyn said in finding guilt said: “The state has relied on circumstantial evidence but the court is satisfied that the pieces of the puzzle presented fitted together perfectly.
“Bit by bit the evidence that has been but together formed into a mosaic and the court is satisfied all three acted together in killing the deceased and disposing of their bodies”.
Members of the Saunders family from around the world watched the trail on videolink.
Rod married South African born Rachel who has a British passport in the 1980’s when he was senior manager at the world-famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town.
Dr Rachel worked nearby as a leading university microbiologist and they quit their jobs to set up Silverhill Seeds and built up a reputation as a leading experts on gladioli flowers.
They also travelled the world lecturing on the flora of South Africa and shortly after their deaths a book on gladioli they had just finished was published to huge critical acclaim.
