October 23 2008 at 02:41PM
Police working around the clock have tracked down the alleged killers
of a mother who died in front of her two little girls.
One man was arrested and the other, who is said to have put up a fight
when confronted, was shot dead.
Mary Visagie, 38, was shot in the stomach by gunmen who robbed her at
her rented Drummond home late on Friday night or early on Saturday
morning. The house is several hundred metres from the old Valley of 1
000 Hills Hotel.
It is believed the gunmen entered through an unlocked sliding door and
demanded the keys to her Corsa car. They were unable to get them and
Visagie ended up fatally wounded.
Her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter and six-year-old adopted
daughter tried to comfort her as she lay dying in the corridor.
"It was a horrifying scene and must have been traumatic for those
little girls," said Detective Inspector Keith Caswell of the
KwaZulu-Natal house robbery task team which was involved in the
investigations.
Visagie apparently told her girls to hide from the gunmen, but when
the suspects fled into the night, the children brought her pillows,
water and blankets. The gunmen took the only phone in the house, so
the children could not call the police.
But at about 7am, the eldest girl ran to a neighbour to say her mother
would not wake up.
Visagie and her husband, Jamie, were separated and their daughters are
now with their father. The children are undergoing psychological
counselling and returned to school on Wednesday.
Police arrested a suspect on Tuesday night and allegedly found him in
possession of an unlicensed weapon as well as items stolen from
Visagie's home. He is due to appear in court in Camperdown soon.
When police went to arrest the second suspect, he allegedly opened
fire and was shot dead.
The murdered woman's husband said he was waiting for police to
question the suspect as to why the robbery had escalated to such
violence.
The couple opened and used to own popular Burn nightclub in Durban and
Visagie still has the Red Door nightclub in Pietermaritzburg. They had
just closed down the Scaramouche Club in Hillcrest.
A memorial picnic gathering will be held for Mary Visagie at the
Monteseel view site at 10am on Saturday. Mourners have been asked to
bring along photographs, stories and mementoes for the little girls.
This article was originally published on page 3 of Daily News on
October 23, 2008
Source:IOL
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20081023115606223C580816
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