Man ‘confesses’ to startled Limpopo cops.
THE decomposed body of a man was found in the yard of an abandoned Gonubie home yesterday after East London police were alerted to a possible murder scene by their counterparts in Limpopo.
The body was found covered with a bloodied mattress in the garden of the Loerie Crescent home shortly after 10am.
East London police said they had been alerted to the crime scene by Limpopo police after a 35-year old man walked into Groblersdal police station yesterday morning and told police had had committed a murder.
Limpopo police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said: “At first we thought that he was a mentally disturbed patient but upon further questioning we realised that he was being serious,” Mulaudzi said.
The brigadier said they contacted Gonubie police who then sent a police van to the scene and the body was discovered.
“The suspect further claimed that he killed the victim, took his car and sold it in Bloemfontein,” said Mulaudzi.
The man, who cannot be named as he is yet to appear in court, has been charged with murder.
East London police spokesman Captain Stephen Marais said officers had been sent to collect the suspect and were expected to be back as early as tonight or tomorrow morning.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived on the scene police had sealed off the area and were busy searching for clues.
The property shares a boundary with “The Wall” housing complex and the large four-bedroom house is in a run down state, with several broken windows, paint peeling from the walls and an overgrown garden.
Residents from the area said they did not know who the property belonged to.
Police estimated the man could have been murdered last week but the body was so badly decomposed that crime scene investigators and forensic experts struggled to identify or estimate the age of the deceased and also could not establish how he was murdered.
The motive for the murder is also still unknown.
Gonubie police said they had not received any reports of missing people during the past two weeks.
Marais said local forensic experts had to call for back up from the Mthatha based special Forensic Task Team to assist in gathering DNA evidence and exhibits.
He said anyone with information on the crime could contact lead investigator Captain Henk Baartman on (043)740-4040.
Neighbours and Gonubie residents expressed shock at the discovery and called for the abandoned house to be demolished.
Homeless people have been seen wandering in and out of the property and concerned residents have attempted to have them chased out.
Glenda Ferreira said police were at the property on Tuesday responding to a fight that had broken out after an elderly police officer who lives in the area attempted to chase four youngsters from the property.
The group allegedly turned on the policeman.
“This place is not safe and the elderly cop is always chasing people away from this place because he cares about the safety of this community,” she said.
“We have been here for a year and we have never met the owner of this property,” she said.
Resident Marara Smondile said it was shocking that they had had to live with a dead body so close to their homes for more than a week. — zwangam@dispatch.co.za