Almost 20 years after her murder‚ the weird tale of what happened to Johannesburg restaurant chef Betty Ketani is coming full circle‚ says journalist Alex Eliseev. However‚ lots of questions remain.
Eliseev’s book‚ Cold Case Confession‚ sets out one of SA’s more bizarre criminal investigations and trials. It launched yesterday‚ just a few days after Carrington Laughton was sentenced to an effective 30 years in jail for murdering Ketani in 1999. Carl and David Ranger‚ accomplices‚ were sentenced to four years each.
“The ICMP has been able to pull DNA out of World War 2 soldiers‚ bones that have been lying there for 70 years... Bosnia’s Million Bones‚ that’s a book to read‚” Eliseev says of the incredible expertise of the ICMP‚ and of a book by investigative journalist Christian Jennings.
Writing Cold Case Confession has consumed Eliseev’s life for four years. “I’ve been busy with it for longer than my son has been alive‚” he says. His son is three.
“It requires patience from your family‚ it requires going into people’s lives. It has given me a different understanding of the criminal justice system, the life stages of a trial. It has been an emotional journey.”
Ketani’s family gave Eliseev a photo of the young chef‚ leaning back against a yellow Chevrolet Rekord in a black skirt and striped T-shirt. Eliseev stuck the photo above his desk. “Whenever I was writing I would look at it. I tried to imagine life through her eyes‚ tried to understand who she was. I wonder what happens to you if someone you love goes missing? Her family lived with the hope that she was alive‚ until the letter was found.
“Writing the book‚ I learned about cultural traditions in the Eastern Cape. This is the story of a woman who went missing in Hillbrow and was never really searched for until the letter was found. Then a great amount of resources went into trying to avenge her.”
That‚ says Eliseev‚ is the redemptive side of the story – it reveals the downside‚ but also the best‚ of the South African criminal justice system. The murder of a very ordinary South African woman, at first not really explored‚ is later investigated with a great deal of resource and dedication.
There is the archaeological investigation‚ the DNA analysis‚ the fact that investigating officer Captain Gerhard van Wyk and lead prosecutor Herman Broodryk SC both suffered stress that saw them hospitalised during the trial.
On the cover of Eliseev’s book is an endorsement from public protector Thuli Madonsela: “... Cold Case Confession is a story that inspires confidence in the system and affirms that‚ indeed‚ we are all equal before the law”. Quite.
Eliseev calls the Ketani case “the most interesting in all my years as a journalist”.
He is talking of “14 or 15” years during which he has covered some very big stories. They include the 2005 kidnap and murder of Johannesburg student Leigh Matthews‚ the 2008 explosion of xenophobic violence across South Africa‚ the earthquake that hit the Caribbean island of Haiti in 2010‚ killing up to 160000 and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan.
“We were in Japan when we still thought Fukushima was going to blow‚ it was a nightmare,” he says.
This week‚ Ketani’s family is coming to Johannesburg to “fetch her spirit” and‚ using a traditional ceremony‚ take it back to the Eastern Cape‚ from where she came.
Eliseev‚ who was awarded a Taco Kuiper grant that allowed him some time off from his job to write the book will carry on in the Eyewitness newsroom where he is a senior reporter and editor.
It was “the proximity to the human stories” of Ketani‚ her family and the people known to have been involved in her murder that kept him glued to the story‚ he says.
“It’s quite a privilege to speak for people who don’t have a voice. That’s what journalism is about.”
Eliseev is the son of two Russian doctors‚ one from Siberia‚ the other from Moscow‚ who came to South Africa when he was “eight or nine” and “didn’t speak a word of English”.
A quick page through an advance copy of Cold Case Confession reveals eloquence and pleasing directness. Johannesburg is often described as a city of immigrants‚ and Eliseev and Ketani are two eloquent examples. One has given voice to another. It seems pleasingly fitting. — BDlive
Strange riddle of the chef who vanished
Eliseev’s book‚ Cold Case Confession‚ sets out one of SA’s more bizarre criminal investigations and trials. It launched yesterday‚ just a few days after Carrington Laughton was sentenced to an effective 30 years in jail for murdering Ketani in 1999. Carl and David Ranger‚ accomplices‚ were sentenced to four years each.
“The ICMP has been able to pull DNA out of World War 2 soldiers‚ bones that have been lying there for 70 years... Bosnia’s Million Bones‚ that’s a book to read‚” Eliseev says of the incredible expertise of the ICMP‚ and of a book by investigative journalist Christian Jennings.
Writing Cold Case Confession has consumed Eliseev’s life for four years. “I’ve been busy with it for longer than my son has been alive‚” he says. His son is three.
“It requires patience from your family‚ it requires going into people’s lives. It has given me a different understanding of the criminal justice system, the life stages of a trial. It has been an emotional journey.”
Ketani’s family gave Eliseev a photo of the young chef‚ leaning back against a yellow Chevrolet Rekord in a black skirt and striped T-shirt. Eliseev stuck the photo above his desk. “Whenever I was writing I would look at it. I tried to imagine life through her eyes‚ tried to understand who she was. I wonder what happens to you if someone you love goes missing? Her family lived with the hope that she was alive‚ until the letter was found.
“Writing the book‚ I learned about cultural traditions in the Eastern Cape. This is the story of a woman who went missing in Hillbrow and was never really searched for until the letter was found. Then a great amount of resources went into trying to avenge her.”
That‚ says Eliseev‚ is the redemptive side of the story – it reveals the downside‚ but also the best‚ of the South African criminal justice system. The murder of a very ordinary South African woman, at first not really explored‚ is later investigated with a great deal of resource and dedication.
There is the archaeological investigation‚ the DNA analysis‚ the fact that investigating officer Captain Gerhard van Wyk and lead prosecutor Herman Broodryk SC both suffered stress that saw them hospitalised during the trial.
On the cover of Eliseev’s book is an endorsement from public protector Thuli Madonsela: “... Cold Case Confession is a story that inspires confidence in the system and affirms that‚ indeed‚ we are all equal before the law”. Quite.
Eliseev calls the Ketani case “the most interesting in all my years as a journalist”.
He is talking of “14 or 15” years during which he has covered some very big stories. They include the 2005 kidnap and murder of Johannesburg student Leigh Matthews‚ the 2008 explosion of xenophobic violence across South Africa‚ the earthquake that hit the Caribbean island of Haiti in 2010‚ killing up to 160000 and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan.
“We were in Japan when we still thought Fukushima was going to blow‚ it was a nightmare,” he says.
This week‚ Ketani’s family is coming to Johannesburg to “fetch her spirit” and‚ using a traditional ceremony‚ take it back to the Eastern Cape‚ from where she came.
Eliseev‚ who was awarded a Taco Kuiper grant that allowed him some time off from his job to write the book will carry on in the Eyewitness newsroom where he is a senior reporter and editor.
It was “the proximity to the human stories” of Ketani‚ her family and the people known to have been involved in her murder that kept him glued to the story‚ he says.
“It’s quite a privilege to speak for people who don’t have a voice. That’s what journalism is about.”
Eliseev is the son of two Russian doctors‚ one from Siberia‚ the other from Moscow‚ who came to South Africa when he was “eight or nine” and “didn’t speak a word of English”.
A quick page through an advance copy of Cold Case Confession reveals eloquence and pleasing directness. Johannesburg is often described as a city of immigrants‚ and Eliseev and Ketani are two eloquent examples. One has given voice to another. It seems pleasingly fitting. — BDlive
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