A French chef who had made her home on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast and earned accolades for her cooking over the years was found bludgeoned and burnt to death in her Ramsgate home, police said on Tuesday.
Superintendent Zandra Hechter said the partially burnt body of Yvonne Cosson (69) was found covered with soil next to one of the walls of her home. Initial investigations revealed that Cosson had been dragged from her bed down to a lounge where a struggle ensued.
”You can see she put up a heavy fight,” Hechter said, adding that Cosson was then dragged out of the house and set alight. Soil was thrown over the body in a bid to hide it.
Hechter said robbery was believed to have been the motive, but apart from the victim’s car, police could not determine what had been taken.
Cosson was last seen alive at 8am on Sunday. A post-mortem will be carried out on Wednesday to determine the cause of death. It was not clear whether she had died as a result of the struggle with her attacker or from being burnt.
Cosson did not have any family in South Africa. Hechter said police were attempting to trace a brother, whom they believed still lived in France.
Cosson, who emigrated from Normandy area of France more than 20 years ago, owned and operated the restaurant La Petite Normandie, which was regularly nominated as one of the top eating establishments in KwaZulu-Natal and in 2005 won the Eat Out Johnnie Walker Top Country Kitchens award.
Eat Out assistant editor Lisa van Aswegen said: ”That’s quite a shock,” adding: ”She had an amazing spirit and a naughty twinkle in her eye.” — Sapa