30 September 2009

Murder victim ‘made killers sandwiches’

TWO teenagers arrested for the murder of a 78-year-old librarian in Wittedrift, Plettenberg Bay, apparently stabbed her to death after she made them sandwiches.

Wittedrift Dutch Reformed Church pastor Chris du Preez said the two boys, aged 16 and 17, from the adjoining township of Green Valley, had frequently visited Johanna Blignault at her home, where she gave them food.

Police who found Blignault’s blood- soaked body outside her back door also found evidence suggesting she had made them sandwiches in her kitchen on Saturday afternoon. A bloody knife was found at the scene.

The boys were ordered to remain in custody when they appeared briefly in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Police said their case was postponed to Tuesday next week for a bail application.

Evidence was also found to suggest Blignault had been raped, but police said a post-mortem would be conducted today to establish the facts.

The two suspects used R150 they allegedly took from her purse to buy alcohol and were drinking at the home they shared with the grandmother of one of the boys in Green Valley on Saturday night when police arrived to arrest them.

A DVD player was found with the two youths after police earlier found a radio and frozen chicken, also allegedly from Blignault’s home, in bushes outside the grandmother’s house.

Both youths had previous brushes with the law. One was out on bail and was to be sentenced yesterday on a charge of housebreaking, while the other was serving a suspended sentence for stealing a car.