A 53-year-old man arrested for the alleged murder of a Fish Hoek woman last week has previously been sentenced to 30 years in jail for burglary, rape, and attempted murder.
Victor Malusi Stimela faces a charge of murder after the body of a 77-year-old woman was found in her Lavendon Street home in Fish Hoek on Thursday March 16.
Police spokesman, Warrant Officer Peter Middleton, said the suspect was arrested on Friday March 17.
He said the suspect had gained entry to the woman’s house through a kitchen window by forcing open the burglar bars.
The woman’s body was found by police around 1pm after a friend raised the alarm when she could not be reached.
Warrant Officer Middleton said the circumstances around her death are being investigated and a post-mortem will determine the cause of death.
Mr Stimela made a brief appearance in the Simon’s Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday March 20.
His case was postponed to today, Thursday March 23 for further investigation.
Warrant Officer Middleton said Mr Stimela was out on parole at the time of his arrest.
According to news reports, the Wynberg Sexual Offences Court sentenced Mr Stimela, a then resident of Masiphumelele, to 30 years imprisonment in 2006 for breaking into a Fish Hoek house, robbing a 78-year-old community worker, raping her, and then attempting to murder her by strangling her with a towel on July 7, 2005.
He was given five years for burglary, 10 years for attempted murder, and 15 years for rape. He was arrested 11 days after the attack when he was seen wearing a jacket he had stolen from the victim.
He was linked to the crimes by the jacket and DNA. It is unclear how many years of his sentence he had served and when he was released from prison.
In a separate incident, a 50-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the bodies of a woman and a child were found at Soetwater Nature Reserve last week.
Ocean View Community Police Forum chairman, Mansoer Ismail, said the Milnerton family of four had been camping at Soetwater Nature Reserve since Saturday March 11.
He said family members in Milnerton had reported them missing on Friday March 10.
He said the suspect had taken his two sons, aged 10 and 17, to school on Monday and fetched them later that day.
On Tuesday, he said, only the 17-year-old boy had gone to school. He said when the father later collected the 17-year-old from school the boy had suspected that something was amiss and had asked his father to stop the car.
He got out of the car and his father gave him his backpack and R100. He called a family member to collect him.
On Wednesday, an elderly couple in a caravan on the same campsite had noticed that there had not been any movement in the tent in front of them and had notified the campsite
manager who in turn called the police.
Acting station commander for Ocean View, Captain Nick Spreeth, said the woman and her son were reported missing by a family member at Ocean View police station on Monday March 13.
Captain Spreeth said the investigating officer along with members of the Ocean View police station went to the reserve on Wednesday March 15 around 6.30pm and discovered the bodies.
Captain Spreeth said the cause of death is yet to be determined.
The suspect faces two charges of murder and appeared in the Simon’s Town Magistrate’s Court on Monday March 20 where he abandoned his bail application.
He will appear in court again on Thursday April 20.
