As the police this week began trying to find out the identity of a headless man who was discovered floating in the Rietfontein Trust dam in the Free State on Monday, the answer may lie in the country’s investigative psychology unit.
Earlier this month, TimesLIVE spoke to Capt Favourite Selepe, who shared some of the unit's successes. During these discussions, Selepe explained how they had solved a similar case before, which also led to the arrest of the killer.
She said community members had stumbled across the headless corpse of a woman in an open field in Mabopane, outside Pretoria, several years ago. The woman’s genitals and breasts had also been removed, leading community members to believe this could have been a muthi killing.
Selepe, however, said they had decided to dig deeper and look beyond the obvious.
“At that time, muthi murders were quite popular, but they noticed that there were also bullet holes on the torso and arms of this individual,” Selepe said.
Investigators noted that there was no blood at the crime scene, meaning the woman had been killed elsewhere and dumped in the open field.
Selepe said by looking at the body, the investigators had to determine whether the body parts were removed before or after the death of the person.
We also had to identify who she was, taking into account that there was no face or head.
— Capt Favourite Selepe
“We also had to identify who she was, taking into account that there was no face or head and the most obvious identity of a person is in the face,” she said.
The unit then explored different methods to find the victim’s identity.
“So, we had to rely on the fingerprints, which in most cases will readily give you a name,” she said.
The fingerprints were taken to the unit’s database to check whether she had a criminal record. When they failed to receive a hit using this method, they took the prints to home affairs.
“Home affairs would have been able to give us a name, surname and ID number, provided that this person was South African,” said Selepe.
As they waited for a reply, they followed another point of reference, which was for them to look at who had been reported missing in the area.
“It usually depends on whether this particular person whose identity we are trying to establish was reported missing or not. So if they are not reported missing, there’s no-one acknowledging that this person is gone or looking for them,” Selepe added.
Piecing together all these aspects, they were finally able to identify the person through home affairs and even find her killer.
“The murder was linked to her boyfriend and not a muthi murder as previously suspected,” said Selepe.
It was not clear why he had decapitated the woman, but it could not be ruled out that this was done to throw the police investigation off course.
“When police interviewed the boyfriend, he confessed. He said he had had an argument with her and killed her. He said he had killed her in the house and then dumped her body,” Selepe said.
It’s one thing getting a confession, but it’s another thing linking the confession to facts.
— Capt Favourite Selepe
But, she said, this was not the end of the police's investigations.
“It’s one thing getting a confession, but it’s another thing linking the confession to facts.”
Police went to the house, where they found the missing body parts in a plastic container, and only then was the boyfriend charged with murder.
A crime scene analysis revealed that though the house had been cleaned, traces of blood were found there. Bullet holes were also found on the bedroom headboard, suggesting that this is where the woman had been killed.
The cartridge casings were also linked to the firearm that the suspect had in his possession - sealing the case for the police.
In the case of the Free State headless corpse, TimesLIVE reported that the body was spotted by a community member, floating in the dam.
The body has since been established to be that of a male. The police said the man was wearing black pants, was of medium build and was dark in complexion.
“A case of murder has been registered for further investigation. The victim is unknown and cannot be identified at this stage, as his head is yet to be found,” said Free State police.
“Anyone with information is requested to contact Thaba Nchu detectives on 082-467-6612 or call Crime Stop at 08600-10111.”
