A 21-year-old man has been arrested in Umtata in connection with the murder of a French chef on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, police said on Wednesday.
Police spokesperson Zandra Hechter said a former employee had been arrested in Umtata on Wednesday morning in connection with the murder of restaurateur Yvonne Cosson (69) in Ramsgate.
Cosson’s partially burnt body was found lying to next a wall of her house, covered with plastic bags and soil.
Cosson was last seen alive at 8am on Sunday.
Hechter said it appeared that the man, who had worked as a waiter at Cosson’s award-winning La Petite Normandie restaurant, had been fired the week before in a dispute over wages.
Hechter said initial investigations had revealed that Cosson was dragged from her bed down to a lounge where a struggle then ensued.
”You can see she put up a heavy fight,” she 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.
The 21-year-old man was expected to appear in the Ramsgate High Court on Friday.
Hechter said Cosson’s car had still not been recovered by police, but that they hoped to recover the vehicle before the trial date.
Cosson, who emigrated from the Normandy area of France more than 20 years ago, owned and operated La Petite Normandie.
The restaurant was regularly nominated as one of the top eating establishments in KwaZulu-Natal and in 2005 her restaurant won the Eat Out Johnnie Walker Top Country Kitchens award.
The Witness newspaper reported on Wednesday that Cosson’s son had also recently died.
”Judging from the way blood was splashed everywhere in the lounge and on the TV and chairs, her murder was brutal,” the Witness reported. — Sapa