French fugitives Philippe Meniere and his wife, Agnes Jardel, committed suicide, the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) said on Thursday.
Addressing a media briefing in Cape Town on the outcome of the ICD’s investigation into the death of the French couple in January this year, ICD executive director Francois Beukman said the cause of death was “self-inflicted contact gunshots to the heads”.
Meniere shot his wife dead and then turned the gun on himself.
Beukman said it was evident from the post-mortem examination that the wounds inflicted from the shots fired by police were not the cause of death.
Meniére (60) and Jardel (55) went on the run earlier this year following the shooting of Constable Jacob Boleme on January 14 at the farmhouse they occupied near Sutherland. The farm’s owner called the police after he had tried unsuccessfully to evict the couple from his house after he found a number of unlicensed firearms in their possession. — Sapa