Johannesburg - A “glamourous woman” is the prime suspect in the murder of an Australian banker found tortured to death in his luxury apartment in Joburg.
That’s according to UK’s Daily Mail which claims that James Starkey was last seen with an unknown woman before he was found tied up in a chair, strangled and covered in burn injuries at the Raphael Apartment Suites in Sandton last month.
According to CCTV footage seen by the SAPS, the 36-year-old merchant banker is seen ushering an unknown woman through the apartment lobby just hours before he was found dead in his apartment.
The woman has now been identified by police as a main suspect, and they believe the financier - who was on a three-month posting from his London firm - let his killer into the high-security complex.
Starkey, a financial expert who worked for a London-based firm called Catalyst, was found by a concerned colleague who asked staff to force their way into the apartment when he did not turn up for work on October 8.
While police have refused to release details of the condition of the body, paramedics have described Starkey’s injuries as “brutal”. They include burns and strangulation marks.
Police have also refused to divulge whether anything was stolen. They are rumoured to be studying Starkey’s laptop.
However, they have confirmed that Starkey, who had dual Australian-British citizenship, was not sexually assaulted during the attack.
The Raphael Penthouse Suites, where Starkey was staying, are monitored by security guards around the clock and guarantee “tight, highly effective and extremely efficient security controls”.
Legacy Hotels’ general manager David Stroud said on Friday that there had been no breach of security, and that Starkey had invited his guest to the private flat. He also confirmed that the guest was not asked to sign the visitors’ book as she was accompanied by the tenant himself.
No one else is believed to have entered his room on the night. Starkey, who graduated from Macquarie University in Sydney and was reportedly engaged to be married, had stayed at the penthouse suite for the past two months and was set to return to Australia in a month’s time.
“He was to check out this month, although it was a private rental, so I’m not aware if there was going to be any extensions,” said Stroud.
Relatives have arrived to fetch his belongings, he added.
Australian banker James Starkey was found dead in his luxury apartment in Sandton last month. Starkey was last seen with an unknown woman before he was found strangled and covered in burn injuries at the Raphael Apartment Suites last month. Police have launched a search for his killer.
Saturday Star