Confession! Man admits to old age home serial murders

Kershwin Goldstone‚ the alleged serial killer accused of the brutal murders of three retirement home residents‚ has made a full confession.

The Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court heard on Friday that Goldstone intended on pleading guilty to the murders of Patricia O’Connor‚ Roland Heathcote and Patricia Tugwell and had already penned a full confession before a magistrate.

The 22-year-old stood stoically in the dock‚ a black jacket hanging loosely on his shoulders and a weathered bandage wrapped around his head.

The man is alleged to have scaled the walls of the Kenwyn and Jacaranda retirement lodges which lie adjacent to one another in the Pietermaritzburg centre.

Using the drain pipes as a foothold‚ he is accused of climbing through windows on the lodges’ upper levels and forcing his way into apartments.

Patricia O’Connor‚ 92‚ was the first to be murdered in her flat in Kenwyn on July 21. She had been strangled to death.

Days later‚ in the Jacaranda Lodge next door‚ 89-year-old Roland Heathcote was stabbed to death and‚ this week‚ 89-year-old Patricia Tugwell had her throat slit with scissors after Goldstone allegedly forced his way into her room.

Prosecutor Patty David told the court that Goldstone had been linked to the killings by fingerprint and DNA evidence‚ and had made admissions in a formal confession.

She said that Goldstone intended to plead guilty‚ and that his confession had been submitted to the director of public prosecutions for consideration.

Goldstone was arrested in the early hours of Wednesday morning after he was spotted by security guards while trying to climb over razor wire at Kenwyn Lodge.

They gave chase and Goldstone took refuge in a neighbouring property where he was finally arrested.

He will appear in court again on August 20.