The man in Cape Town who handed himself over to the police and made startling confessions in court about a series of rapes, burglaries and robberies in the southern suburbs 20 years ago, may walk free because police have lost their old dossiers.
Police spokesperson Riaan Pool said less serious unsolved crimes "matured" and dockets were closed after 20 years but murder, rape and robbery dossiers should have been kept.
When the Major Crime Management Team visited the archives of police stations in Rondebosch, Claremont and Wynberg on Monday after the father of two young children gave himself up at the weekend, no dockets could be found to match the man's claimed crimes.
He confessed to a range of crimes, including the rape of a young woman in the rose garden at Kelvin Grove and the burglary of the home of heart surgeon Marius Barnard.
The crimes rocked the community in the '70s and '80s and were still clearly remembered by veteran police detectives.
Six of the crime scenes were pointed out by the man.
The Kelvin Grove rose garden rape was one of the most sensational crimes in the 50-page confession handed to a magistrate on Friday.
Pool said the man had committed his crimes between 1973 and 1980 and between 1983 and 1985, between stints in jail.
The man, who lost his job as a groom at Milnerton Stables recently, told detectives he wanted to "come clean" because his old way of life was haunting him.
Pool said without dockets or complainants there were no cases.
Anyone with information which could help the police should call Captain Piet Viljoen at 082 965 5864.