Before man invaded, a vast stretch of land along the southern coast of Africa, was once a lush green forest, now called the Knysna Forest. This mystical, magical forest was once home to great herds of Knysna elephants, who existed peacefully in this green sanctuary for hundreds of years. Everything changed by 1763, when the land was invaded by settlers; woodcutters, farmers and hunters. The trees were felled and the elephants hunted to extinction.
The discovery of gold at Millwood Creek in the forest in 1860 led to a shanty town, abandoned after 20 years, but one dwelling has been renovated into an overnight lodging for hikers and it plays a role in a spree killing of 1991. The Knysna forest is now protected by foresters and has grown as dense and impenetrable as ever, but only one lonely elusive elephant cow remains.
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, the town of Knysna, with a port protected by a lake flanked by the impressive Knysna heads, thrived due to the timber and ivory trade. Today the town of Knysna still retains much of its Victorian charm. George Rex, the founder, bequeathed land for the building of the St George’s Anglican church. It was in the grounds of this church, that a murder was committed by a serial rapist-killer in 2005.
In 1991 an adventurous American, Edward Perlmutter hitch hiked across Africa and reached Knysna. When his parents had not heard anything from their son for two weeks, they contacted the Knysna Police. The case of a missing person was allocated to Warrant officer Lawrence Oliver, who placed Edward’s photograph in the newspaper. Mr and Mrs Baxter from Cape Town recognized Edward’s photo and informed Oliver that they had recently hiked the Millwood trail in the forest and that Edward had joined up with them. They all slept in the restored Millwood House and the following morning Edward said that he would go on ahead and wait for the couple at the end of the trail. When Mr and Mrs Baxter arrived at the end of the trail, there was no sign of Edward. They thought he had just moved on.
Oliver organized a search party, and police sniffer dogs finally discovered Edward’s body on 25 October 1991. Several people compiled identity kits of the two suspects, as well as clothing they were seen it. This gave Oliver a clue to the Sand Pebbles Disco on Durban, but on his way he teamed up with Warrant-officer Whale from the Port Elizabeth Murder and Robbery Unit, who was carrying a docket of a similar attempted murder of Clive Newman. Newman’s a maroon Monza was stolen. In Durban they were informed their suspects were 30-year old Antonie Wessels, wanted by the Child Protection Unit, for he was accompanied by a minor, 16 year-old Jean-Pierre Havenga.
From Durban the detectives followed leads to Johannesburg where they teamed up with Captain Piet Byleveld of Brixton Murder and Robbery. The vehicle was spotted outside a pub and the suspects were arrested. Oliver and Byleveld confronted Antonie Wessels who admitted that besides the murder of Edward Perlmutter and Clive Newman (whom he believed was dead), they had murdered 15-year old David Sehmels in the Drakensberg as well as Jacobus Petrus Joubert, a retired prison warden in Pretoria. David Sehmels was in the same foster care facility as Havenga and both ran away to join Wessels. At some stage Sehmels became a liability and was killed. Wessels admitted that they had eaten some of Sehmels flesh for they were hungry.
Antonie Wessels was sentenced to death – later converted to life and Jean-Pierre Havenga was sentenced to 25 years. Havenga has since been released on parole and turned religious. Wessels is still incarcerated and has found new lovers to replace Havenga, despite swearing to kill a fellow inmate for every day he was without Havenga.
Wessels admitted to killing the men they encountered on the run from the police because “they came on to Jean-Pierre.” Antonie Wessels and Jean-Pierre Havenga were spree killers, not serial killers. Antonie had clear, yet unjustifiable motives for the murders and Jean-Pierre tagged along.
The difference between spree killers and serial killers is a spree killer is defined as one or more persons, who kill two or more victims during one event which could have a long or short duration, at two or more locations, with no cooling-off period. My definition of a serial killer is a person who murders several victims, usually strangers, at different times and not necessarily at the same location, with a cooling-off period in between. The motive is intrinsic ; an irresistible compulsion, fuelled by fantasy which may lead to torture and / or sexual abuse, mutilation and necrophilia. Spree killers kill impulsively and indiscriminately for fun as they go along, and their murders are usually not very well-planned or executed. there is no deep intrinsic motivati0on and fantasy, as with the serial killers.
There is one too many ghosts at Millwood in the Knysna forest and the town of Knysna was shocked 14 years later with the murders of two young women.
Early on the morning of 13 October 2005, the body of 18-year old Jessica Wheeler was discovered in the grounds of St George Anglican Church, the one donated by the founder George Rex. While the police were processing the scene, her flatmate identified her. Several witnesses made statements as to her last movements. Jessica had frequented the local clubs Stones and Zanzibar the evening before. Three days later Jessica’s autopsy revealed she died due to asphyxia due to aspiration of soil. The murderer must have pressed her face into the ground. Vaginal and anal swabs were taken.
On 8 November 2005, another young woman, Victoria Stadler went missing after frequenting the two night clubs. Two days later the burnt out wreck of a vehicle was discovered in the forest near Knoetzie, a hamlet neighbouring Knysna by foresters, but unfortunately the police did not conduct a thorough investigation. When the police finally paid attention to the missing persons report, they returned to the scene of the burnt out car and police dogs found the body of Victoria. It was determined that her body had been close to the burning car, but then dragged under the bushes. The murder case was investigated by Inspector Riaan Meyer. The autopsy revealed she was strangled and was dead before the fire. Swabs were taken.
Through CCTV footage and reading witness statements, Meyer identified Heinie van Rooyen as a suspect. He admitted knowing the women – even alluding to a secret relationship with Jessica and informed the police he had consensual sex with her on the night of her murder. He denied having sex with Victoria and told that she had dropped him off close to his home. Clothes collected from his home matched the description of the clothes noted by a witness who saw him in the church grounds.
In his trial Van Rooyen was positively linked to Victoria’s murder scene due to pollen matches on his clothes. His DNA also matched the samples taken from both the women. He was found guilty on both murders and the indecent anal assault of Jessica and sentenced to life.
Retired FBI profiler Roy Hazelwood taught me there is a difference between a serial killer, who derives a deep psychological gratification from the murder – and may not even sexually assault the victim – and a serial rapist, who kills his victims in order that they do not identify him. Heinie van Rooyen is a serial rapist who killed his victims to conceal his identity.
Top image: The dense Knysna forest (Public Domain) Photograph of Edward Perlmutter in the newspaper. (Chris can you blend his photo into the forest?)