Cumming murder accused back in court

Update

PLETTENBERG BAY NEWSFLASH - The 30-year-old man accused of raping and murdering a Plettenberg Bay hospice nurse briefly appeared in the local Magistrate’s court on Monday.

The matter against the accused, who cannot be named until he has pleaded due to the sexual nature of the crime, was however postponed to July 9, 2018. The docket was sent to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a decision on whether the matter would be transferred to a higher court.

He remains in custody after he was denied bail earlier this year.

The man, who has family ties in Plettenberg Bay, but worked in Cape Town, is accused of raping and killing the 63-year-old Schoongezicht Country Estate resident Penny Cumming in January this year.

The suspect was arrested on January 30, 2018 where he was allegedly hiding near a school in Kwanokuthula following the grisly discovery on January 29.

Cumming’s naked and bruised body was found on the floor of her home by a friend. Her home was ransacked and her Volvo SUV was missing. The vehicle, which was partially destroyed, was found near Nekkies in Knysna later that day.

It was later established that Cumming had also been raped and that the cause of death was strangulation.

Read more in Thursday's Knysna-Plett Herald and online.

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