Former Durban cop held for wife’s death

Dawn Basdeo.

Dawn Basdeo.

Published Jun 24, 2018

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Durban - For six days, former top Durban policeman Prem Emmanuel Basdeo waited for word on his missing wife as his distraught stepdaughter turned to Facebook, pleading for help to find her.

Last week, Basdeo, 58, the former superintendent at the Sydenham police station who had reported the mysterious disappearance of his second wife, Dawn, was arrested and charged for her murder.

The 57-year-old’s body has still not been recovered despite Basdeo allegedly directing police to search an area in Pretoria.

The father of two appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court last Thursday. 

Police said he would also be charged for defeating the ends of justice and perjury, because of his initial statement reporting his wife as missing.

The former Southgate, Phoenix, man, had previously been charged for the murder of his first wife, Neetha, but walked free when that case was thrown out of court.

A police source said in December 2000, Neetha’s body was found in a shipping container with a single gunshot wound to the head.

“The couple had been living in the container with their son Jordan, who was 16 years old at the time, while their home underwent renovations. 

"Three years after Neetha’s death, Basdeo and his son were arrested for her murder, but in 2004 they were acquitted of the charge in the Durban High Court.”

In an interview with POST’s sister paper, the Daily News at the time, Basdeo said all the evidence against him had been fabricated.

“The police investigation was filled with lies and I am very bitter towards the police. 

"I am a senior police officer who was treated without any humanity. They used my innocent son to implicate me in the murder,” he had said. 

“I don’t know who killed Neetha. I leave it in God’s hands,” he said.

Eleven months before Neetha’s death, Basdeo went missing for 12 days. 

He claimed he had been kidnapped, attacked, robbed, and had allegedly spent three days gambling at a Pretoria casino before managing to escape from his captors. 

He made his way to Durban, booked off sick from work and was admitted to hospital for psychiatric treatment.

After his acquittal on the first murder charge, he was re-instated in the police force.

“Soon after, he relocated to Gauteng where he married Dawn, who was a family friend,” the police source said. “In 2016, he resigned from the force to start a trucking business.”

Police spokesperson Captain Colette Weilbach said Dawn was last seen on June 8 leaving her home in Brooklyn, Pretoria, in her silver-grey 2007 Mercedes ML 63.

“It is alleged she was headed to a nearby hospital for blood tests but never arrived there. When she failed to return home, her husband reported her missing at the Brooklyn police station.”

Her frantic daughter, Diane Naicker, took to social media appealing to Facebook users to help locate her mother.

Weilbach said around-the-clock work by Brooklyn detectives and members of the Pretoria K9 Unit, led to the recovery of her vehicle in Soweto on June 10, two days after her disappearance.

“Further investigation led to the arrest of Basdeo. He will also be charged with defeating the ends of justice and perjury because he was not truthful in his initial statement when he reported his wife as missing.”

Basdeo has been remanded in custody and is due to appear in court again tomorrow.

When approached for comment Naicker referred POST to the family spokesperson, attorney Kate Llewellyn-Smith, who asked for the public to respect the family’s privacy in dealing with this “unfathomable situation”.

“We thank you for your thoughts, prayers and ongoing support,” she said, in a post on Facebook.

“Please continue to keep Dawn’s daughters, their family and Dawn herself in your thoughts and prayers.”

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