Five suspects arrested in connection with the murder of Hester Koch on her Philippi farm last year have been released from prison.
|||Cape Town - Five suspects arrested in connection with the murder of 62-year-old Hester Koch on her Philippi farm last year have been released from prison after DNA results went missing and the investigating officer failed to turn up in court.
Koch was allegedly murdered last November by a couple she had helped off the street and offered to accommodate in a shack on her farm. The police also arrested three men in connection with the murder.
Koch was sexually assaulted and strangled. She lived on the farm with her partner Arnold Schultz, 68, who was murdered a month later.
Koch’s family found out about the ruling last Thursday. Her niece, Michele Maree, said
: “This wonderful woman died and they just got a get-out-of-jail-free card; it is absolutely unfair. We are very disappointed in the justice system. They betrayed us.”
Another family member said: “I just don’t understand how DNA reports go missing.”
The investigating officer refused to comment when contacted by the Cape Argus on Sunday.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said he would follow up the matter and would comment by Monday.
“We have to get hold of the detectives in the case. If there is information we will forward it.”
Maree said family members intended to have a meeting with the police today to find out how to try to get the case back into court.
yolisa.tswanya@inl.co.za
Cape Argus