Johannesburg - A Joburg wife has turned herself in to police after allegedly murdering her husband and then going on the run, with R42 000 in cash missing.
This comes after a major police hunt for her and three male accomplices. One of the men has since been arrested.
On Saturday morning, police were called to a house in Crosby where a man’s body was found, said Colonel James Makapane, who is leading the investigation at the Brixton police station.
They were tipped off by people who had received messages from the woman, which supposedly said “I’ve killed my husband”.
When police officers arrived, they had to force open the door as the house was locked, and found the man’s body. He was tied up and lay on the floor in the bedroom, but there were no signs of a struggle and nothing of value was stolen.
Makapane added that they were waiting for the results of a post-mortem, but believed the man had been strangled as there was no blood at the scene.
Police believe two of the men had been hiding in the closet in the bedroom and jumped out at the husband when he arrived home from the shops.
It is unclear what happened next, but the man is believed to have died sometime between 10am and 11am on Friday.
When police searched the house on Saturday, the wife was nowhere to be found.
“We decided we were not going to sleep until we found this woman,” said Makapane.
He added that his entire unit of about 25 detectives began working on the case and searched for the woman as well as the three men.
One of the three, aged 18, was arrested on Monday, and the police discovered he was the son of the murdered man’s business partner. He had been seen driving around in Brixton on Friday with the murdered man’s wife.
The car they were in, which was used by the murdered man but was owned by the 18-year-old’s father, was found abandoned at a nearby Pick n Pay.
The 18-year-old was arrested in Fordsburg after police officers had combed the area.
“It was a well-organised operation to make sure we got him,” said Makapane.
The other two men were still at large and a hunt was on for them. Makapane said he could not disclose the names of the deceased or the suspects.
“We are going to find them, that I can assure you,” he said.
The police said they were still unsure of the motive, but Makapane said R42 000 in cash was missing.
On Tuesday morning, the wife’s attorney contacted the Brixton police and said she would hand herself over to the police. She was arrested at the police station at 8am on Tuesday.
The Star