Excellent partnership policing between the SAPS and a local security company led to the speedy arrest of a suspect who had been positively linked to the brutal Murder of Penelope K Cumming (63) on 29 January 2018.
This arrest through partnership policing amplified our common goal to collaborate in creating a safe environment for all.
Preliminary investigation reveals that on Monday 29 January 2018, at approximately 05:00, Kwanokuthula Saps dispatched members to the address of the deceased at Schoongezich Estate, Piesang Valley in Plettenberg Bay after they received a report from a friend of the deceased who discovered the body of the 63 years old on the floor of her residence.
She was found naked with multiple bruises to the body and neck which strengthen suspicion that she could have been strangled to death. However, an autopsy will be performed on the body during the cause of the week to determine the possible cause of death.
Rumours that are doing the rounds is that the victim could have been raped, cannot be confirmed or denied until such time that the autopsy results become known.
Footage of the then person of interest and car were disseminated amongst the law enforcement agencies/multipliers in the Plettenberg Bay and Kwanokuthula precincts after it came to light that the suspect had left the complex with the decease’s vehicle, a Volvo-sedan just after 05:00.
Subsequent to the search that ensued, members of Knysna SAPS found the vehicle in flames near Nekkies, Knysna and called on the fire brigade for assistance who put out the fire. However, the car was partially damaged due to the extensive fire. The car was then impounded as evidence.
On the morning of Tuesday, 30 February 2018, the owner of a local security company conveyed vital information to police regarding the whereabouts of the suspect who had been spotted near a school in Kwanokuthula. Police immediately embarked on a search for the fugitive who was subsequently arrested.
He had been positively linked through footage and forensic evidence that were gathered at the crime scene by our forensic experts. The suspect who is in his mid 20’s is scheduled to appear in the Plettenberg Bay Magistrates’ Court on a charge of Murder on Thursday, 01 February 2018.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
