/ 1 January 2002

E-London cops probe satanic revenge crime

EAST London police are working around the clock to solve a suspected satanic murder of a 21-year-old man.

Gunter Walter Brandstetter was found fully clothed, lying in his parents’ pool with a gaping wound at the back of his head on Sunday, said Captain Michelle Matroos.

”At this stage routine investigations are underway and a number of people have been questioned but there have been no arrests yet,” Matroos said.

Neighbours spotted Brandstetter’s body in the swimming pool and alerted police who found a trail of blood leading from the house to the pool.

Police, who have not yet established a motive for the murder found a slogan reading ”Pay back time” written on the fridge.

This, along with the fact that Brandstetter was involved in a ritual murder four years ago, led police to speculate Satanists were involved in the murder.

In the 1999 murders Brandstetter and his brother were involved in a ritual killing along with convicted murderer Maurice Smith (27) from the suburb of Amalinda.

Smith, who claimed to be a high priest in a coven, was subsequently sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment after the brothers turned state witness against him.

The three were allegedly involved in the decapitation of an unidentified man in Amalinda. Smith later claimed he wanted the man’s skull to give him power. ? Sapa