A second man has been arrested for the murder of a couple and their teenage son in their house in Walkerville, south of Joburg, Gauteng police said on Thursday.
“The second suspect was arrested on a plot in Walkerville on Wednesday,” Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said.
The man was in possession of a laptop, necklace and camera belonging to the family.
The first man, believed to be the son of the family's domestic worker, was arrested on Monday. The two were due to appear in the Vereeniging Magistrate's Court on Friday on three charges of murder, rape, theft and house robbery.
The body of Geraldine Viana, 46, was found in the main bedroom, Brigadier Anton du Bruyn said at the time. She was raped before being shot dead.
Her husband Tony, 50, was shot dead in the lounge. He was found on his stomach with his hands tied behind his back.
The body of their 13-year-old son Amaro was found in the bath with his hands tied behind his back. He was a Grade 7 pupil at Linmeyer Primary School.
Police believed they were killed on Saturday night. An e-mail that had been circulating describing details of the killing was a hoax, Dlamini said.
According to the e-mail, the couple and their teenage son were hacked to death and tortured before they were killed. Police could not confirm this.
“The family was shot and killed,” said Vereeniging police spokesman Warrant Officer Happy Nape.
He denied that the 13-year-old son was tortured with boiling water. – Sapa