Cape Town - The alleged “Butcher of Kraaifontein” has undergone blood tests that could link him to other unsolved murders.
Johannes de Jager, 48, will return to the Blue Downs Magistrates’ Court on Thursday charged with killing and mutilating student Charmaine Mare.
The 16-year-old’s arms and legs were hacked off and scattered over 40 kilometres across the city.
On Tuesday De Jager was taken by cops to the Karl Bremmer Hospital in Tygerberg in chains.
The alleged killer was cuffed at the hands and feet as he was escorted to and from the hospital between 11am and 12pm to undergo blood and saliva tests.
Police on Tuesday night described the tests as “routine”.
The results will be used to see if traces of blood and saliva match those found on Charmaine’s charred remains.
But sources say officers will be allowed to use the results to see if they can unlock other similar unsolved murders.
Police on Tuesday night confirmed they are re-opening an investigation into the gruesome murder of a woman in Atlantis in 2008.
This case bears chilling similarities to the Charmaine Mare murder.
The woman’s mutilated remains were discovered near Atlantis, almost 40km from her Ravensmead home.
The Daily Voice has learned that De Jager was questioned by cops in connection with this murder.
But he was subsequently released without charge due to a lack of evidence and because witnesses failed to come forward.
Last week De Jager’s attorney Wildre Fourie confirmed he represented the suspect at the time, but did not remember specific details of the case.
“I don’t remember the details, but the victim was an adult woman. I think it might have been about two years ago,” he was quoted as saying.
But Fourie on Tuesday night insisted his client has not yet been charged with any other matter.
He says: “When I spoke to prosecutors at Atlantis, they indicated there would not be any other charges at this stage.”
Meanwhile, a 40-year-old woman who went to school with the murder suspect on Tuesday night revealed how De Jager was constantly teased at school because he was poor.
“Johan and I went to school together in Ruyterwacht and I stayed only two doors away,” the woman – who does not want to be identified – said.
“He was a nerd... everybody teased him because he was very poor.
“I remember him well – he was very quiet and withdrawn.
“His mother swore at him often. Hy het baie op sy moer gekry by sy ouers [His parents beat him a lot].”
She said that the mechanic was obsessed with cars from a young age.
“Since he was small it was in his blood to fix cars – dumb at school, but you could tell him nothing about cars,” she added.
“Him, his brother and sister went through hell because the teasing at school never ended.”
Daily Voice