December 31, 2009Soshanguve, Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa10-year-old Masego Kgomo is kidnapped, mutilated, and killed Kgomo was last seen on New Year’s Eve after informing her mother she was going to play with friends nearby. When she did not return home, a search was launched by family, friends, and members of the community. One of those…
A woman is abducted, raped, disemboweled, and her throat cut before she is left for dead
December 18, 1994Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South AfricaAlison Botha is abducted, raped, stabbed, and left for dead Botha was forced into her car by Frans du Toit who initially promised not to hurt her, and claimed to need to use her car to get money from someone who was indebted to him. Du Toit eventually…
Woman suspected of killing several family members hanged for murder of son
December 30, 1932 Pretoria, South Africa Daisy Louisa C. de Melker is hanged for the murder of her son In April 1932, De Melker, described by newspapers as “a trim, handsome little woman of 44,” was arrested for the poisoning murders of two husbands and her 20-year-old son. Her first husband, William Alfred Cowle (sometimes…
Formula One driver killed by fire extinguisher carried by man he ran over
March 5, 1977 Midrand, South Africa Formula One driver Tom Pryce and marshal Frederick Jansen van Vuuren are killed in a chain-reaction accident Jansen van Vuuren and another marshal had rushed to a car which had malfunctioned and caught fire. As the two marshals ran across the track, Pryce and another driver came over a…
