By Bronwyn Gerretsen
He has been involved in some of the biggest criminal cases in KwaZulu-Natal in recent years but the Lotter murders is the most horrific case private investigator Brad Nathanson has ever worked on.
And he has done it all.
From matrimonial legal wrangles and fraud to housebreaking and rape, he and his colleague Rob Griffiths investigate almost anything people hire them to. And even though their lives are at risk, their passion for the job keeps them doing it.
Some of the most recent and widely reported cases that Nathanson, a former policeman, has investigated are the rape of two sisters who were hijacked in Westville last year and the gang rape of Jessica Foord earlier this year.
But the murder of Johan and Magdelena Lotter will forever be on his mind, he says.
"I had no idea it was the kids. When I first heard the couple had been killed I felt such guilt. I thought what more could I have done. I sobbed. It was like a bad dream," he said.
Nathanson said he did not believe those responsible for the threats would have "gone through with it" as he saw a number of cases involving death threats and they were never carried out.
"It didn't make me work any less, But I just didn't believe it would happen," he said.
But after he arrived at the crime scene and police told him Hardus's (one of the sons) initial story of being robbed by two balaclava-clad men in their home, he knew something was amiss.
"It didn't sound true. Nothing made sense. I then said that it must have been the kids," he said. "They did not think it through."
"This is the worst case I have ever worked on in my life. All that time the enemy was in the house," he said.
But Nathanson said the investigation and arrest of the trio was "the best bit of police work I've seen in a long time".
He and Griffiths rely heavily on the police to carry out their work and attribute their success, in part, to the assistance of "good policemen".
So when will he stop?
"Until this job kills me. And I believe it will. I will either die from a heart attack, of high blood pressure or be killed," he said.
But even though they risk their lives every day to do the job they love, Nathanson and Griffiths agree on one thing: "You will always be your kids' hero."