On the trail of the ‘B1 butcher’

A RUBBISH bin next to the main road between Windhoek and Rehoboth yesterday produced a macabre find that could be the latest two pieces in the biggest murder riddle now confronting the Namibian Police: the upper sections of two human legs.

The human thighs are suspected to be part of the remains of the woman – still not identified by yesterday – whose torso was found in two pieces in a rubbish bin on the road between Windhoek and Okahandja on Sunday. Both the torso and the parts of the legs were found at lay-bys next to the B1 road.The female torso was found at a lay-by some 42 km north of Windhoek.The spot where the legs were found is about 25 km north of Rehoboth.(See map above for details of where the various body parts were found.) It is also about 14 kilometres south of the place where the severed head of the murdered Juanita Mabula was discovered on October 24 2005 lying next to a culvert by the side of the B1 road.Mabula’s decapitated body had been found lying naked next to the Western Bypass section of the B1 road near the Windhoek Country Club Resort on September 25 2005.The discovery of the legs was made at about 09h00 yesterday by a man who is contracted to clean roadside resting spots along that stretch of the B1 road.When a rubbish bin at the spot was tilted to empty it, the two body parts fell out, the Police reported.A team of Police officers and three forensic scientists from the National Forensic Science Institute of Namibia were summoned to the scene to investigate the find.The forensic scientists, led by the Director of the Institute, Paul Ludik, removed the legs, by then sealed inside plastic bags, from the scene about three hours after they had been found and after the scene had been photographed and items at the scene had been collected for possible analysis.Like the torso that was discovered discarded three days earlier, the legs were cold to the touch, Police officers at the scene reported.This prompted a suspicion that the person responsible for dumping the torso and legs had kept these body parts in a fridge or freezer before deciding to get rid of them.It is also suspected that the legs were placed in the rubbish bin during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, or early yesterday morning.LINK TO MABULA? It is suspected that the upper legs belonged to the same woman whose torso was found three days ago, the Commanding Officer of the Namibian Police’s Serious Crime Unit, Chief Inspector Michael Unandapo, said.The rest of her body – her head, arms, and the rest of her legs – remained unaccounted for by late yesterday.The Police’s co-ordinator for crime investigation in the Khomas Region, Deputy Commissioner Marius Visser, told The Namibian earlier this week that the possibility could not be excluded that the same person may have been responsible for Mabula’s murder and that of the latest, unknown victim.That assessment remained unchanged yesterday.Visser, too, was at the scene after the find.A reward of N$60 000 that the Police offered on Monday for any information that would lead to the arrest of the person who killed the latest victim remains in place.An earlier reward of N$20 000 was offered for any information that would lead to the arrest of the person who killed and beheaded Mabula about a week before what would have been her 22nd birthday.That reward is also being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person who killed another young woman, Melanie Janse (22), and dumped her naked body next to the B1 road near Windhoek’s Van Eck Power Station in August 2005.Janse’s remains were found lying in the grass next to the road near the power station on August 20 2005.It is suspected that she had been strangled to death.Mabula may have been killed with a blow to the back of her head, the Police have reported.The Police are asking anyone with information on any of these cases to contact Chief Inspector Unandapo at telephone (061) 209 4302 or cellphone 081 124 0521, or Deputy Commissioner Visser at (061) 209 4221 or cellphone 081 128 2380, or Warrant Officer Geoffrey Scott at 081 253 0303, or Sergeant Willem Dax at 081 245 9199.Both the torso and the parts of the legs were found at lay-bys next to the B1 road.The female torso was found at a lay-by some 42 km north of Windhoek.The spot where the legs were found is about 25 km north of Rehoboth.(See map above for details of where the various body parts were found.) It is also about 14 kilometres south of the place where the severed head of the murdered Juanita Mabula was discovered on October 24 2005 lying next to a culvert by the side of the B1 road.Mabula’s decapitated body had been found lying naked next to the Western Bypass section of the B1 road near the Windhoek Country Club Resort on September 25 2005.The discovery of the legs was made at about 09h00 yesterday by a man who is contracted to clean roadside resting spots along that stretch of the B1 road.When a rubbish bin at the spot was tilted to empty it, the two body parts fell out, the Police reported.A team of Police officers and three forensic scientists from the National Forensic Science Institute of Namibia were summoned to the scene to investigate the find.The forensic scientists, led by the Director of the Institute, Paul Ludik, removed the legs, by then sealed inside plastic bags, from the scene about three hours after they had been found and after the scene had been photographed and items at the scene had been collected for possible analysis.Like the torso that was discovered discarded three days earlier, the legs were cold to the touch, Police officers at the scene reported. This prompted a suspicion that the person responsible for dumping the torso and legs had kept these body parts in a fridge or freezer before deciding to get rid of them.It is also suspected that the legs were placed in the rubbish bin during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, or early yesterday morning.LINK TO MABULA? It is suspected that the upper legs belonged to the same woman whose torso was found three days ago, the Commanding Officer of the Namibian Police’s Serious Crime Unit, Chief Inspector Michael Unandapo, said.The rest of her body – her head, arms, and the rest of her legs – remained unaccounted for by late yesterday.The Police’s co-ordinator for crime investigation in the Khomas Region, Deputy Commissioner Marius Visser, told The Namibian earlier this week that the possibility could not be excluded that the same person may have been responsible for Mabula’s murder and that of the latest, unknown victim.That assessment remained unchanged yesterday.Visser, too, was at the scene after the find.A reward of N$60 000 that the Police offered on Monday for any information that would lead to the arrest of the person who killed the latest victim remains in place.An earlier reward of N$20 000 was offered for any information that would lead to the arrest of the person who killed and beheaded Mabula about a week before what would have been her 22nd birthday.That reward is also being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person who killed another young woman, Melanie Janse (22), and dumped her naked body next to the B1 road near Windhoek’s Van Eck Power Station in August 2005.Janse’s remains were found lying in the grass next to the road near the power station on August 20 2005.It is suspected that she had been strangled to death.Mabula may have been killed with a blow to the back of her head, the Police have reported.The Police are asking anyone with information on any of these cases to contact Chief Inspector Unandapo at telephone (061) 209 4302 or cellphone 081 124 0521, or Deputy Commissioner Visser at (061) 209 4221 or cellphone 081 128 2380, or Warrant Officer Geoffrey Scott at 081 253 0303, or Sergeant Willem Dax at 081 245 9199.

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