“Joy was a beautiful person. She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
These were the words of Joy Boonzaaier’s distraught nephew, Hannes Steyn. Boonzaaier was found murdered in her townhouse in Wierda Park on Thursday. Boonzaaier, 63, and Natacha Burger, 33, a resident in the same complex, were both brutally murdered on Thursday afternoon. Burger was found in Boonzaaier’s living room, clutching a note in her hand, while Boonzaaier was in the bedroom in a pool of her own blood.
According to police spokeswoman, Captain Agnes Huma, both women were stabbed with a sharp object. Burger was found with multiple wounds on her head, one of which cracked her skull. From her wounds it was clear there had been a struggle.
Boonzaaier’s throat was slit but there were no signs that she fought her attacker.
Police said the murder weapon has not been found and that nothing had been stolen from the house. There were no signs of forced entry and all the doors and the security gate of the townhouse were open.
Police are puzzled by a trail of blood outside the townhouse. It appears that one of the attackers was hurt during the attack.
A neighbour saw Burger’s body when she walked past the open door and alerted the police. No one heard any screams or pleas for help.
The note found in Burger’s hand read “Natacha, please come see me urgently, Tannie J”. It is still to be established whether Boonzaaier wrote this note or not.
On Boonzaaier’s telephone, the last call made was to 10111.
A member of the body corporate of the Lancelot townhouse complex, who chose to remain anonymous, said the murders had shocked residents. “Everybody knew Joy; she always looked after the residents’ animals,” he said.
Officers at the scene said the murders seem to be a hit on Burger. “We do not know whether Burger came to Boonzaaier for help,” one of the investigating officers said.
It is unclear if the murder is related to a satanic cult, but Steyn denied Boonzaaier was involved in such activities. “She was a lovely person and she was most definitely not involved in any occult activities,” he said in tears.
Boonzaaier was a pensioner and did not have any children, and is said to have considered her poodle, Bubbles, her child, Steyn said.
A special investigation officer was brought in to investigate a possible “mark” on Burger’s gutter outside. He specialises in occult activities.
Evidence of Burger doing a study on satanism was found but she apparently used this to help convert satanists to Christianity. Whether this was the cause of her death is only speculation.
Pretoria News Weekend