Family and friends to pay final respects to Phoenix triple murder victims

On shaky legs‚ a Durban man led the procession of three caskets‚ carrying the bodies of his wife and two daughters into the Faith Revival Church in Phoenix on Saturday morning.

Holding his sister's hand‚ Sagren Govindsamy stumbled into the church where hundreds of mourners gathered to pay their last respects to Jane‚ 22-year-old Denisha and 16-year-old Rackelle.

He then began sobbing as mourners began to cry loudly as the procession made its way to the front of the church with Rydalpark Secondary School pupils standing guard of honour in tribute of their classmate Rackelle.

Denisha's devastated fiancé‚ Macaelin Padaychee‚ his father and brother were among the pallbearers‚ who carried her casket into the church.

On the morning of September 21‚ Govindsamy entered his flat through a window as no one answered the door the night before when he returned from working a 2pm to 10pm shift.

He told police that he did not have house keys so he knocked on the door. When his wife and two daughters did not answer‚ he left to spend the night at his mother's house.

When he entered the flat on Friday morning‚ he found his wife's lifeless body in her bedroom and 16-year-old Rackelle's body in the second bedroom. They both had been gagged.

Sniffer dogs had located Denisha's body hidden in a wardrobe in the bedroom.

When Police Minister Bheki Cele visited the family‚ he revealed that the alleged killer was known to the family.

Former tow truck driver Colin Pillay was arrested and appeared in court on three charges of murder on Tuesday.