NATIONAL NEWS - A livestock farmer and his wife were attacked on their farm on Tuesday resulting in the man being killed.
While police initially said the wife did not suffer any physical injuries, a family source has revealed that she is in hospital with a suspected skull fracture among other injuries.
Carien (48) and Jakes Snyman (57) were attacked between 21:00 and 22:00 by three suspects in the Koedoeshoek area in Schoemanskloof.
According to a provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, the couple had been inside their home when they heard noises coming from outside.
The husband went to go investigate where the sounds were coming from. When he stepped outside, he was shot by one of the suspects.
Mohlala says the farmer ran back into the house, but the suspects followed and shot at the door to gain entry to the home.
Once inside, the suspects tied up the couple and demanded the keys to the safe.
They took the woman to the bathroom and proceeded to ransack the house, stealing an undisclosed amount of money before fleeing.
It is unclear whether the farmer succumbed to his injuries before or after the suspects fled the scene.
At some point, the woman managed to free herself. She sat with her husband’s body until the early hours of the morning. She eventually exited the house and flagged down a farmworker who contacted police yesterday.
It is believed that the woman was terrified that the intruders were still on the property which is why she only left the house the next morning.
The police arrived and found Jakes’ body in his lounge at around 07:00.
While Lowvelder was on the scene, the paramedic who declared him dead said he was found with a blanket covering his body. A source on the scene, who wished not to be named, said the woman covered her husband with the blanket.
Mohlala told the newspaper yesterday that wife did not sustain physical injuries because of the attack. However, a source close to the family says she is suspected to have suffered a fractured skull and a severed tendon in her arm.
She is being treated at the Rob Ferreria Hospital and will be undergoing an operation.
Today, Mohlala said the police on the scene had seen the woman bleeding from her ear, but that they could not determine her injuries as she was in shock.
The police have opened a case of armed robbery and murder. Mohlala said investigations are ongoing and no arrests have yet been made.
Police and forensics on scene of the farm attack.
