parole
Tangeni Amupadhi
The Department of Correctional Services deemed Samuel Sidymo fit to be freed on parole nine months before completing his sentence. But one day after he broke his parole conditions Pretoria police arrested him on suspicion that he is a serial murderer who went on a killing spree from December 1998 to January 6 this year.
Six bodies were discovered on Capital Hill near the Pretoria zoo and overlooking the Union Buildings. Senior Superintendent Rudi van Olst, head of the Pretoria murder and robbery unit, said this week police are confident Sidymo is linked to the murders. He was released in November after serving three-and-a-half years of a sentence of four years and 90 days for rape, assault and robbery.
During his time in prison, he was charged with assault and possession of dagga. However, correctional services representative Russel Mamabolo insists Sidymo earned his parole: “He wasn’t problematic in prison.”
Police say Sidymo (37) initially denied any involvement in the Capital Hill killings, but cracked when confronted with physical evidence. DNA analyses have also implicated him, they say.
The Pretoria murder and robbery unit says it made the fastest arrest ever in connection with serial killings – within 48 hours of beginning an intensive investigation. Says Van Olst: “A lot of investigations still have to be done … but at the end of the day this case is going to be strong.”
At the beginning of the investigation police were not aware of Sidymo’s criminal history, or that he had contravened his parole conditions. Van Olst says tenacious detective work led to the arrest of the man accused of having had a short rein of terror over the Christmas and New Year season.
The first victim, a woman, was found on December 14. Her body was so badly decomposed that police had to reconstruct her face in order to identify her. Police treated the case as an isolated incident of murder.
On the second morning of 1999, two more bodies were found on the hill. These too had been there for several days. They were men in their late teens.
It was then that Van Olst ordered his men to comb the 2km2 area. “We picked up everything that did not blend with the natural environment and questioned people in the vicinity.” More than 100 police officers and police dogs were deployed. That afternoon they found a fourth body. It was a boy aged between 12 and 14.
By January 4 police had established there was a serial killer on the loose. He had somehow managed to lure unsuspecting victims to this quiet hill with a scenic view of Pretoria and then strangled them.
A team of 10 detectives found the fifth victim, a woman, on January 4. The next day police set up 24-hour surveillance on Capital Hill.
They didn’t have too long a wait because at about 4am the suspect was found strolling about and police picked him up for questioning. He was immediately linked to some of the clues picked up two days previously.
Sidymo appeared in court on charges of murder and the case was postponed to the end of February.
Van Olst believes the suspect was acting alone despite the discovery of the sixth victim after Sidymo’s arrest. Police say this body was badly decomposed.