Welcome to Unsolved Murders SA, a podcast series where we will be delving into gruesome homicide investigations that, at the time of producing the episodes, were still open.
The objective of this series is to keep the stories of the forgotten alive and, hopefully, help spark a memory for anyone listening in with intimate knowledge of the cases.
The views, information, or opinions expressed in this series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily represent those of Swisher Post, its parent company and partners.
Some of the content featured in this series describes details of extreme violence. Therefore, viewers’ discretion is strongly advised.
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Unsolved Murders SA: What we know about Liezel de Jager
The mysterious death of Liezel de Jager continues to haunt the Amanzimtoti community more than two months after her lifeless body was discovered on the front yard of the Dutch Reformed Church’s rectory, on the morning of Wednesday 13 October 2021.
De Jager was a devout Christian, born in 1983. Liezel grew up in Graaff-Reinet, the fifth oldest town in South Africa situated at the heart of the “Great Karoo” in the Eastern Cape.
While it is not clear what year it was, her Facebook page suggests that she matriculated at Hoer Volkskool and later furthered her studies at the University of Free State.
Friends and church peers of Liezel described her as a loving woman who served the congregation with her whole heart.
It is said that anyone who had encountered the 38-year-old would be left with a pleasant memory of her infectious laughter.
Prior to settling in Athlone Park eight years ago, Liezel and her family lived in Kanoneiland, a small settlement in Upington, Northern Cape, where she became a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church.
It’s believed that it was in Kanoneiland where she met and fell in love with Werner, who is a native of the Upington town.
The untimely death of Liezel continues to baffle detectives.
Retracing Liezel’s last moment alive
Who would want to end the life of a fun, loving and kind mother? From the details of the evidence found so far, a strong argument can be made for the fact that her murder was premeditated.
But, who would harbour such a vendetta against a pastor whose sermons touched and healed many NG Kerk churchgoers in Amanzimtoti?
Liezel left the Dutch Reformed Church’s rectory at approximately 04:45, where she lived with her husband and two young daughters, on the morning of Wednesday 13 October 2021, to go jogging with two friends.
Everyone who knew the 38-year-old understood what an important feature health and fitness was to her lifestyle.
According to Alan Payne, chairperson of the Amanzimtoti Athletics Club, the trio was gone for about 40 minutes.
Reflecting on his last encounter with Liezel, he said:
“When she got back, we had a quick chat, then she got in her car and left. The other joggers left in their own cars.”
Eyewitnesses who saw Liezel that morning say she got in her car at around 05:40 and took the five-minute route back to the rectory.
According to police reports, the person who stumbled on Liezel’s body was her husband, and he had alerted their local security firm at approximately 07:00.
Liezel de Jager murder: Looking at the crime scene
When police officials arrived at the scene, Liezel’s body was found sprawled below a staircase next to the driveway.
A bent metal toy spade, believed to be that of her children, was found next to her body. Her handbag was still hooked over her shoulder, and her car keys, and cellphone were lying on either side of her.
Robbery was immediately ruled out as a motive since her personal belongings had not been taken.
At first glance, police observed strangle marks and a sharp cut around the victim’s throat, supposedly caused by the metal toy spade.
In an article compiled by Johané Scott and Carla Coetzee for YOU Magazine, it’s said that Liezel met her violent death only a few metres away from her home, where her daughters were playing inside.
Helinä Häkkänen, a Finnish psychologist and expert in the studies of narcissism and psychopathy, wrote extensively on Murder by Manual and Ligature Strangulation.
In Chapter 4 of Criminal Profiling: International Theory, Research, and Practice, Helinä explained that in strangulation, the cause of death is cerebral hypoxia secondary to compression and thereby an occlusion of the vessels supplying blood to the brain.
More interesting was her profile of a killer who uses manual strangulation to do away with their victims.
Detailing the outcomes of a study on offender profiling and homicidal crime scene behaviour carried out at the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, she said:
“Research on homicidal strangulation has shown that in a high percentage of cases, the offender and the victim have a family relationship and that as much as 75% of the victims are females and infants.”
Helinä also indicated that the predomination of female victims in homicidal strangulation has been explained by quarrels in relationships and unrehearsed violence applied by bare hands as well as by physical disadvantage and incapability of resistance of female victims.
Therefore, it is not outside the realm of probability to suggest that Liezel, a healthy and physically fit woman in her late 30s, could have been overpowered by a male figure who was of bigger build than her, and most importantly, perhaps, had intimate knowledge of her daily schedule.
Unsolved Murders SA: Is Werner de Jager a prime suspect?
Immediately, Werner became the primary person of interest in the investigation, by virtue of his relationship with the victim and the fact that he was the one who discovered Liezel’s body.
An anonymous source who spoke to YOU Magazine described the victim’s wounds that were observed at the crime scene as follows:
“Her throat had been cut and there was blood around her neck, presumably caused by the children’s spade when it broke while she was being choked with it.”
A number of interesting occurrences took place before and after Liezel was killed:
- An hour before Liezel’s body was found, at approximately 06:02, someone had triggered the rectory’s emergency alarm. When the security firm called, it was Werner who picked up and said the alarm was triggered by accident. Remember that eyewitnesses saw Liezel head home at 05:40, and based on the distance between her residence and the jogging location, it would have taken her five minutes to get there. The source who spoke to YOU Magazine recalled how Werner sounded completely calm in his exchange with the security firm. Looking at the timeline of Liezel’s last moments alive, a crucial 82-minute window period remains the missing piece to the jigsaw puzzle for investigators. There is no way to prove that Liezel’s car had pulled up to the driveway before 06:00. No one has, thus far, been able to confirm whether Liezel had made it inside her home between then and the time her body was found. Her handbag was still over her shoulder and her keys and cellphone were lying on either side of her. Was she attacked as soon as she got out of her car? If so, at what time did this happen? Whoever murdered the 38-year-old would have had more than an hour to eithe escape or get rid of crucial evidence and reframe the crime scene.
- A few days after the murder, someone had apparently broken into Werner’s car, a very rare occurrence on the quiet and safe Dan Pienaar Road.
- Thereafter, with pressure mounting on him as the primary person of interest, Werner went missing on Sunday 24 October 2021.
Interestingly, he had been scheduled to take a lie detector test at the Brighton Beach police station on Tuesday 26 October 2021, according to YOU Magazine’s Johane Scott.
But two days before then, his father-in-law reported him missing.
For three days, Amanzimtoti police cast a wide net in search of the husband who was supposedly mourning the death of his wife.
Then, at approximately 10:15 on the morning of Wednesday 27 October 2021, Werner was found stranded on a sugar plantation near Illovo South in KwaZulu-Natal, more than 13km away from his home.
The sighting of his white Renault sedan was made by a local farmer, who immediately contacted authorities.
Werner was alone in his vehicle and according to security officials who were at the scene, he was completely disoriented.
The widower was treated for light injuries and airlifted to hospital.
The most recent update on the unsolved murder came from police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele who said the following about the status of Liezel’s homicide investigation:
“The matter is still under investigation and no arrests have been made.”