Body-parts find sparks hope in murder case

Published Jul 12, 2007

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Windhoek - The grisly find in Namibia of a head, two legs and two feet with their middle three toes cut off has raised hopes that the female victim of an attacker dubbed the B1 Butcher may be identified.

Farmworkers on Wednesday afternoon found the body parts while working on a fence about 20 kilometres east of the capital Windhoek, according to a police report on Thursday.

A month ago, a woman's dismembered torso was found in a rubbish bin on the main B1 artery running south of Windhoek. Three days later two thighs were found along the same road.

Forensic experts are almost certain the thighs and the torso were part of the same person.

A police hunt is under way for a person dubbed the B1 Butcher. It is not yet clear whether the latest find is related to that investigation. Police have declined to speculate on the motive of the killing.

The incidents have brought back memories of the gruesome deaths of two young Windhoek women in 2005.

The naked body of Melanie Janse was found beside a bypass road near Windhoek in August that year, while Juanita Mabula's beheaded body was found at another section of the bypass about a month later. Both women were 22 years old. The women's killer or killers have yet to be found. - Sapa-DPA

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