By: Natasha Archary
The South African Police Service (SAPS) in Limpopo have arrested three suspects for the alleged murder of a German tourist.
On Saturday, 24 February the three suspects between the ages of 24 to 46 were arrested after a 74-year old male German tourist was brutally assaulted and killed.
Police report that the victim left Botswana on Friday, 23 February and drove to South Africa in a sedan arriving at Lephalale.
On Saturday morning as he left Waterberg District, he offered an unknown male hitchhiker a lift along the way.
It is alleged the German tourist asked his hitchhiker to assist him with accommodation in the North West, where he was planning to stay before proceeding with his tour of the rest of South Africa.
Police say the tourist trusted the man he had offered a lift to, only to be betrayed due to money.
“Preliminary reports indicate that the pair established a friendship to an extent that the victim requested the man to drive his vehicle. On arrival at the said accommodation which was reported to be in Moruleng, the suspect suggested they pass by a liquor outlet where they had a few drinks. That’s when the suspect informed his two friends that the elderly man is expecting a substantial amount of money from his family abroad.
The suspect and his two friends drove with the unsuspecting victim to his place, where upon arrival, they tied him up and started to assault him while demanding his bank pin code. They also searched him and took an undisclosed amount of cash and other valuables.
The three suspects removed the vehicle’s number plates and drove with the victim while assaulting him to Northam in Limpopo Province using a secluded gravel road. When they reached a certain farm, two suspects dragged the victim from the vehicle to dump him in the bushes, while the driver remained in the vehicle.
The security officials, together with a member of a Rural Safety while patrolling, noticed a suspicious vehicle parked at night and without number plates. They stopped to investigate, and that’s when they noticed the suspect’s blood-stained t-shirt, and notified police.”
The 74-year-old’s body was found in the bushes but the two suspects had already fled the scene.
Police arrested the men later who were still in possession of some of the deceased’s belongings.
All three suspects, believed to be foreign nationals are expected to appear before the Northam Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 26 February 2024, on charges, including murder.
In 2022, a German tourist was shot and killed in Mpumalanga as he and a group of 4 other tourists were making their way to a lodge inside the Kruger National Park.
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