GUILTY South Africa - Steven Siebert, 6, abducted & killed, Robberg, 23 Dec 2005

From South Africa:



Plettenberg Bay - A 55-year-old man arrested in connection with the murder of a six-year-old Plettenberg Bay boy has confessed to the crime, police said on Monday.

Inspector Elgin Antonie said the man confessed on Christmas Day. He was arrested on Christmas Eve.

Steven Siebert was last seen on Friday in the company of a dark-haired man with a grey beard in the garden of the house in which his family was staying in Robberg, Plettenberg Bay.

His body was found at 09:45 on Saturday, Antonie said.

Helga Lengacher, an eyewitness, said she saw Siebert with a "rather hobo-looking" man as she drove past his family's property on Friday night.

She said on Saturday morning that the man appeared to helping Steven climb up, or out of, a tree.

Found in the bushes

"The boy was killed. He was found in the bushes..." an emotional Lengacher told press.

Steven's uncle, Paul Buys, said the boy probably disappeared at 19:00 on Friday and it was likely that he had wandered in and out of the house in which his family were staying in Stableford Drive.

Holidaymakers and locals helped the police look for him throughout the night.

Antonie said the man would appear in the Plettenberg Bay magistrate's court on Tuesday.

Satanism ruled out

He would not speculate on the motive for the murder, saying this was likely to emerge in court, but discounted a rumour that the killing was related to Satanism.

Antonie said the body was not mutilated and it appeared the boy had been strangled.

The body was being taken to a police mortuary at Touwsriver where a post mortem would be carried out later this week.

Steven's body was found in thick bush next to the place where his assailant lived - on the property of a house he was employed to renovate.

Antonie said detectives were still on the scene on Monday.

He asked the public to stay away so they would not contaminate the crime scene or its immediate surroundings.

Forensic specialists have visited the scene and have taken evidence to Cape Town for analysis. Antonie said there were no other suspects in the case.

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1855619,00.html

George - "No paperwork - just get a branch and a rope," said an emotional bystander at the Plettenberg Bay court where a handyman suspected of murdering a six-year-old boy, appeared on Tuesday under strong police guard.

Many residents waited for hours outside the Plettenberg Bay magistrate's court in the searing heat to see Theuns Christiaan Olivier, 47, and hurl abuse at him.

Calls of "you pig!" could be heard.

Olivier, clad in brown denim pants and a green shirt, entered the courtroom with downcast eyes and handcuffs. A dark-blue jacket was draped over his handcuffs.

Only the media and a few bystanders were let into the small courtroom. A police officer wrote the names of the bystanders on a list, and only these people were given access where the suspected murderer of Steven Siebert appeared.

Tempers were flaring

Inside the court, armed police officers guarded Olivier on either side.

Magistrate Len Goosen told Olivier, who preferred to be addressed in English, that he was being charged with regard to a schedule six crime and that it was the most serious crime a person could commit.

Olivier, who was not asked to plead, said he would take charge of his own defence and he would not apply for bail at this stage.

Goosen postponed the trial to 3 January for further investigation.

Olivier's second court appearance will be in the Knysna magistrate's court. He will remain in custody until then.

Tempers were flaring outside the court and several bystanders were upset because the court was cordoned off for more than three hours. After about two hours some of the people who had to attend other court cases, were given permission to pass through the cordon.

Police spokesperson Elgin Antonie said after the court proceedings that he could not confirm earlier reports claiming that Olivier might be sought for other alleged crimes against children. But he did say the police were investigating a charge of murder and one of abduction.

Antonie could not confirm Olivier's address either and said these details would be announced in court.

Steven went missing on Friday night and after a large-scale search by the police, family and residents, his body was found.

Police said a post-mortem would be done this week at the Salt River mortuary.

Steven's funeral arrangements are not yet known. He is survived by his father, Thomas, an engineer from Johannesburg; his mother, Elaine, and a brother, Christopher. http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1856157,00.html

Hi,

This case is really sad. This was a beautiful little boy on holiday with his parents. It would appear that the suspect was let out on bail for a previous case because the state's prosecutor couldn't get his ducks in a row

Now this poor boy paid for that mistake with his life. And we don't have the death penalty here

JellyBean

JellyBean said:

Hi,

This case is really sad. This was a beautiful little boy on holiday with his parents. It would appear that the suspect was let out on bail for a previous case because the state's prosecutor couldn't get his ducks in a row

Now this poor boy paid for that mistake with his life. And we don't have the death penalty here

JellyBean

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I'm sorry JB ... There is so much pain when a child murdered. I think it's always more horrible when LE has had the perp on other charges and been forced in the name of justice to let him/her go.

Hi Greywing,

Thats just the thing. From what I saw on the news last night, it was the state that made a mess of everything and let this man out on bail because they weren't 'ready' for trial. He was charged with 5 counts of indecently assualting boys between the ages of 9 - 14. It boggles the brain!

JellyBean

Johannesburg - The man who is suspected of having murdered six year-old Steven Siebert at Plettenberg Bay last week was freed from custody at the end of last year because the director of public prosecutions apparently dragged his feet with a decision to prosecute him.

The man had worked for two years as a religious instructor at a children's home in KwaZulu-Natal for two years.

He eventually left the Mathhews Farm children's home after allegations of child molesting were investigated against him.

This was revealed on Thursday by Jeffrey Cox, 23, after the man had appeared in court regarding the abduction and murder of Siebert. The body of the Johannesburg boy was found in dense bushes after he had been abducted from a holiday home in Plettenberg Bay and was apparently sexually assaulted and then murdered by strangulation.

More at link : http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1856833,00.html

JB

From August 2007:

http://mg.co.za/article/2007-08-08-child-killer-sentenced-to-life-behind-bars

Six-year-old Steven Siebert's murderer, Theunis Olivier, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Cape High Court on Wednesday.

Handing down sentence, Judge Essa Moosa described Olivier as a cold and callous murderer. "The victim must have endured excruciating pain," he said.

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