Murder mystery: two deaths, two families, one fence and one giraffe

The meeting at the gate of Boondock farm was meant to be a pow-wow to mend the fences. Instead, it ended in a double killing that has split the tiny Mpumalanga farming town of Louw's Creek.

The story goes back more than 40 years to when the Von Johnston and the Tonetti families lived happily side-by-side on neighbouring farms. The friendship between the old colonial families, who descended from WWII Italian prisoners of war and German aristocrats, remained strong until recently when a fence was erected between their farms.

The fence, said Louw's Creek residents and neighbouring farmers, became a bitter feud pitting the families against each other with accusations of wildlife theft and angry emails and SMSs being exchanged.

It came to a bloody end when, at just after 7am last week on Tuesday, Luke von Johnston, 66, and his farm manager, John Khoza, 72, were gunned down at a gate on Von Johnston's property. The alleged killer, Mark Norris, 39, in apparent self defence, opened fire on the two with his 9mm pistol, firing 11 shots.

The three were meant to have met to discuss the fence that Norris had erected and apparently wanted Von Johnston to pay for in part, and about transferring giraffe to the side from which they had originally come.

Instead Khoza, who had also helped Norris on his farm, was shot three times in the neck and twice in the back. He is thought to have been running to the farmstead to raise the alarm when he was killed. Von Johnston, whose body was found near his bakkie, was shot once through the right temple and in the chest, shoulders and back.

Norris - a descendant of the Italian Tonetti family - handed himself over to police shortly after the shooting. He was taken to Barberton Regional Court last Wednesday to appear on two counts of murder. Instead prosecutors withdrew all charges against him.

Mpumalanga police spokesman Sergeant Gerald Sedibe said: "It's only a provisional withdrawal. There are certain things that are outstanding, that the prosecutors say we must get. They include reports on ballistic tests."

The Times has learnt that the Von Johnston family has arranged for a private investigator to look into the case and for a private autopsy for both Khoza and Von Johnston.

Norris's brother-in-law, David le Roux, said they had been advised by lawyers not to speak.

For many the death of Von Johnston, an adventurer, pilot and yachtsman - who twice sailed across the Atlantic - and a philanthropist who helped to preserve Louw's Creek's old colonial buildings, is devastating.

The withdrawal of charges has split the town's residents, with some saying Norris could never have committed such a crime and others demanding that Norris be arrested.

Ingrid Boag, Von Johnston's sister, said their families and the Tonettis had always got on well.

"There were never any issues between us. Both our families loved Louw's Creek, we loved the environment. That love has been passed down through the generations."

Boag said the love her father, a German baron, had for people and his nature was passed down to her brother.

"Luke maintained the farm as a conservancy. For decades everything was fine, until the fence was erected."

She said: "We are trying to understand the context of what this is all about. We are trying to recreate what happened and how my brother and John ended up dead. None of it makes any sense."

Ashley Boag, Von Johnston's nephew, said: "For months there was huge animosity, with the neighbours refusing to meet. Suddenly on Tuesday he was called to meet at the gate. We don't know what happened except that Luke and John are dead. There have been claims of self defence, admissions to the shootings, but no arrests."

Von Johnston's best friend, Colin du Toit, said the killings were tearing the town apart.

"No one can make sense of it. Even the police don't seem to have answers to what happened at the gate."