Yet another twist in Gardee murder case

THE Hillary Gardee murder case took a new twist this week when a man suspected of being a serial killer – luring women on social media and dating sites before robbing them and killing them on the first date – was arrested as the fourth suspect in the case.

The 38-year-old man, who can’t be named until he appears in court on Monday, was arrested in Kwa-thema, Springs, on Thursday in connection with the murder of another woman, found dumped in a farm dam in Sandra, near Delmas, on Sunday.

It is alleged that the 27-year-old woman, who works for an international oil and gas company, met the suspect, who called himself Richard Mokoena on Facebook, and agreed to have a date with him last Saturday.

The suspect allegedly strangled her and threw her in the dam before driving off in her car. The woman was found alive on Sunday morning and allegedly told a story of what happened to her before she passed away hours later.

When the suspect was arrested on Thursday, the police discovered there was a warrant for his arrest for allegedly killing two women in Mpumalanga, one of them a police officer, earlier this year. It is also believed that he was released on parole for another murder case in January this year.

But it was only when the police investigating Gardee’s murder saw his photo that they realised that he matched the profile of a suspect who was caught on camera withdrawing money from an ATM in Sabie using Gardee’s card. They also placed his cellphone movement near the tower where Gardee’s body was dumped.

Sources within the police told the Sunday Tribune that when he was confronted with the evidence, he allegedly admitted killing Gardee and dumping her body in the bush.

“He claims that he met Hillary on Facebook and started ‘dating’ her.

“He arranged to meet with her for the first time because she had told him that her IT company was paid a lot of money for a job they had done for one of their clients,” a senior police officer, who asked not to be named because he isn’t allowed to speak to the media, alleged while speaking to the newspaper yesterday.

The suspect allegedly confessed to the Sandra murder and the killing of Gardee.

“The suspect said he acted alone in both killings,” another police officer, who asked not to be named, said.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala yesterday confirmed that a fourth suspect had been arrested for the Gardee murder, but refused to elaborate how he was linked to the case.

“I can confirm that we have arrested a fourth suspect linked to the Hillary case, and that he is also implicated in other murder cases, including the shooting and killing of two sisters from Kanyamazane, one of whom was a police officer.”

The latest arrest comes after police initially arrested three men and accused them of killing Gardee.

And the National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson (NPA) in Mpumalanga, Monica Nyuswa, yesterday said they were continuing with their case against the three men initially arrested for Gardee’s murder.

“Bail hearing in respect of accused 2 and 3 will proceed on Tuesday, August 16, and the indictment will be served on them on August 22,” she said.

The murder of Gardee – the daughter of former EFF secretary-general Godrich Gardee was kidnapped, raped and killed in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga, on April 29 – has had some twists and turns since her body was found on May 3, dumped in a plantation about 60km outside Nelspruit.

Among the twists was a scathing attack on eswatini’s King Mswati III launched by Godrich Gardee in a series of posts on Twitter alleging that Mswati was involved in Hillary’s murder in what he believed was retaliation for the EFF’S protest at the country’s border posts on April 12.

Mswati has strongly denied allegations.