Man held for wife’s ‘hijack’ murder

Odette Barkhuizen was shot dead, and her car was abandoned two blocks from the crime scene.

Odette Barkhuizen was shot dead, and her car was abandoned two blocks from the crime scene.

Published Sep 9, 2015

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Johannesburg - George Barkhuizen has been arrested in connection with the murder of his wife.

The arrest came after The Star reported that the 47-year-old was the suspect in the murder of his wife Odette.

Odette was murdered on June 11 on a routine trip to her Oakdene, Joburg, office, where she worked with her husband.

When the 43-year-old mother-of-two stepped out of her car, she was shot in the head and chest by a hooded figure who fled with her vehicle and dumped it two blocks away.

Police initially thought it was a hijacking, but investigations later revealed she was the target of an alleged murder plot.

Although the news of an arrest should have sat well with Odette’s family, her mother, Pam Immelman, said George was putting them through a different kind of hell.

Immelman burst into tears while telling The Star how George has kept her 23-year-old physically disabled grandchild from them for two months and continues to keep his location secret, even after his arrest.

“It has been so awful. Our main concern is our grandchildren. Our youngest grandson Wayde ran away from George recently and said he was being intimidated and that he (George) was brainwashing them. Warwick is disabled, so he is dependent on his father. He hasn’t let us see him and he’s using him to get to us,” she said.

George was arrested at his lawyer’s office after a three-hour interrogation, Immelman added.

The 66-year-old said that when this happened, he had already taken Warwick out of their home to an unknown place.

“Just before he went to meet his lawyer today, he dropped Warwick off somewhere and he won’t tell anyone where. He just says it’s a place of safety. We feel hopeless.”

The police confirmed on Tuesday that a family member had been arrested, but refused to name him. They also said he would appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

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The Star

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