Mystery over man who bled to death in woman’s yard

A Johannesburg woman was woken in the early hours of Saturday morning to the sound of a window shattering.

Panicked‚ she phoned the police - fearing her house was being broken into.

Shortly after police arrived at her Coronationville home at around 3am‚ they discovered a dead man lying in a pool of blood under one of her windows.

Nadine Neethling‚ a school teacher from the same area‚ told TimesLIVE on Saturday that the man was not trying to break in‚ but was merely looking for help.

“He had jumped over the neighbours’ palisades into my aunt’s yard‚” she explained.

“My aunt sent out this message on the family WhatsApp group‚ something like: ‘Don’t panic guys there is a man in my yard‚ he died’.”

Neethling says she rushed over to her aunt’s home‚ where police were taking statements.

While the circumstances leading to the man bleeding to death in a stranger’s yard is unknown‚ Neethling said there were different versions from other bystanders.

“From what I know the guy’s wife is pregnant or in labour‚ not sure which‚ and she was at the Rahima Moosa Hospital‚ quite close to my aunt’s house‚” she explained. “He apparently tried to climb over the wall of the hospital but security stopped him. A group of men then attacked him and while he was trying to run away‚ he was stabbed.”

It appears the victim was stabbed multiple times‚ according to reports‚ and sustained additional wounds while clambering over the palisade fencing.

Blood on the window sills at the neighbours’ home and at her aunt’s‚ suggests that he was trying to get help‚ Neethling said.

Police were not immediately available to provide details on the man or the circumstances of his death.

“They only came to fetch the body at around 9am‚” Neethling said. “My aunt is quite traumatised after seeing the body and the blood and everything but she is okay.”