Forensic scientist to probe Mark Minnie’s 'suicide'

An independent forensic investigator is probing the circumstances around the death of Mark Minnie‚ co-author of The Lost Boys of Bird Island.

Minnie‚ 58‚ was found on Monday with a gunshot wound to the head on a smallholding in Port Elizabeth. Police initially ruled out foul play and said it appeared to be a suicide.

Minnie’s relative Tersia Dodo does not believe he committed suicide. She said the former policeman feared for his life after the publication of the book‚ which implicated powerful former National Party politicians in an alleged paedophile ring that abused young boys.

Tafelberg Publishers and colleagues are also sceptical that he shot himself.

Forensic scientist Dr. David Klatzow has arrived in Port Elizabeth at the request of Minnie’s family to investigate his death‚ the Daily Dispatch reported on Friday.

Klatzow said he was approaching the case with an open mind. He has worked on prominent criminal and civil cases in South Africa‚ including the assisted suicide of mining magnate Brett Kebble‚ the death of MK operative Ashley Kriel and the Inge Lotz murder.

TimesLIVE previously reported on similarities in the way three key characters‚ including Minnie‚ with knowledge of the alleged paedophile ring were found dead with a gunshot to the head.

Port Elizabeth businessman Dave Allen and apartheid-era environment minister John Wiley – implicated in the book as child abusers - were found dead within weeks of each other with gunshot head wounds in 1987.