Grave Murder by Jana van der Merwe

Author:Jana van der Merwe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: She is a petite, innocent-looking young woman with fantasies of skinning and flaying human skin. He is a diagnosed schizophrenic who fantasises about committing cold-blooded murder. When they meet, they will plan and execute one of the most horrific crimes ever documented in this country. In April 2011, the sleepy gold-mining town of Welkom was deeply shocked when the dismembered, decapitated body of Michael van Eck was discovered buried in a shallow grave on the outskirts of the local cemetery. Was this a muti murder, the work of a deranged madman or part of a satanic ritual? For the investigators and psychologists involved, the mystery only deepened when a seemingly unlikely arrest was made: a soft-spoken girl next door and her intelligent, devoted fiancé. Joining forces with some of the country’s most specialised experts in the occult and psychopathy, Lieutenant Ogies Nel of the Welkom Detective Unit and her colleagues in the South African Police Service unravelled one of the most brutal psychologically motivated murders ever committed in South Africa’s crime history. As they uncovered the evidence, they exposed a most heinous deed, alarmingly similar to the crimes committed by serial killer Ed Gein, who had a preference for flaying his victims’ skin. Grave Murder is the chilling account of how appearances can be very deceptive – how those who might seem innocent and harmless on the outside may hide some dark, disturbing secrets that are just waiting to be revealed.
ISBN: 978-1-77022-777-4
Publisher: Penguin Random House South Africa
Published: 2015-08-26T00:00:00+00:00

16

Satan’s spawn?

‘Was that the satanic murder?’ was the most common way of referring to the crime in dinner-party conversations all over the country. That satanism had been involved seemed to be a popular belief, perhaps because for ordinary folk it was the only way of processing Welkom’s infamous graveyard murder.

Even though Chané and Maartens vehemently denied any satanistic influences, it was important for the state to consult experts and rule it out as a motive. Exploring this field would give clarity on what could possibly have led to such a heinous crime. Once the findings were made public, there was an outcry from satanists, many of whom condemned the crime.

Dr Kobus Jonker, a former policeman and a respected South African and international expert on the occult, became interested in the field after he attended an incident in 1981 in Port Elizabeth, where a ‘witch’ had allegedly committed suicide. During this time there was an explosion of occult-related crimes across the country and Jonker had become increasingly involved in such investigations. Jonker’s interest and experience later led to him taking charge of the SAPS’ Occult Unit. At the time of the Welkom murder, he had already been investigating suspected occult-related crimes for 32 years.

De Nysschen had requested that the 61-year-old Jonker, a shortish man with a seventies-style ‘dad’ beard and a calm, friendly demeanour, examine all the exhibits, including police photographs, the photographic images found on the accuseds’ cellphones and computers, as well as Chané’s writings and artworks, which were handed in to the court as evidence.26

‘The Latin word occultus refers to something that is supernatural or mysterious,’ Jonker began his testimony. He explained that the occult covers a variety of groups and beliefs. There are Christian cults and sects, Wicca (a witch movement) and the paganist movement, all of which are classified under the occult. In South Africa, muti murders and sangomas also form part of the occult realm.

‘These groups carry out three very specific activities that classify them as occult cults, be they esoteric or religious: there is the act of the esoteric, which means that the information they have is not accessible to the general public and is kept secret; they make use of a person’s talents, which lie beyond their five normal senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch and smell; and there is an element of the supernatural,’ said Jonker, referring to the sixth sense, the ability to perceive an unseen world.

De Nysschen looked as perplexed as the rest of the gallery.

‘Are you now talking about satanism or the occult in general?’

‘The occult includes satanism as well,’ Jonker replied.

De Nysschen cut to the chase.

‘Is it true that some of the evidence found on the accuseds’ phones could also be described as examples of this so-called paganism, Wicca and so forth?’

‘Yes.’

‘Satanism as well?’

‘Yes. The pentagram, a lot of the signs are there. If one looks at satanism, there are different degrees of satanism. You firstly get traditional or, as I say, generation satanism, where it has been passed

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