Wolhuter’s brother, Michael, became concerned after failing to reach his brother and he subsequently called upon Schrosbree to check on Geoff. On entering the unlocked home Schrosbree made the gruesome discovery, and contacted the Knysna SAPS.
"I don’t want to talk about what happened or about Geoff," is all Shrosbree was willing to say.
According to Captain Malcolm Pojie, SAPS liaison officer for the SWD, "The motive for this murder is not known yet, although we suspect that the deceased’s cell phone and laptop are missing. There was no sign of forced entry as one of the doors was closed, but not locked."
Wolhuter’s neighbour explained, "We heard dogs barking on Wednesday night (April 27), some time between two and four in the morning. Usually when the dogs bark something is happening, but we didn’t notice anything and didn’t ask around the following day to see if anything had happened in the street or area."
The exact time of Wolhuter’s murder has yet to be determined. According to Constable Chris Spies, Knysna SAPS liaison officer, the time of death would be determined after perusal of tests performed during an autopsy on Tuesday, May 3. Unfortunately these results were unavailable at time of going to press.
Shortly after Wolhuter’s body was removed Tosca, the SAPS body fluid detection dog, was brought to the scene and she could be heard yapping excitedly as she was put to work.
Suspect arrested
"Intensive investigation led to the arrest of a 26-year-old man at his house in Katriena Street, Hornlee, Knysna earlier today [May 3] at approximately 13:00," explained Captain Pojie.
He further explained that police had acted on information received from a member of the public as well as forensic evidence that "had been scrutinised and led us to the suspect".
Pojie said that the investigating team had recovered the stolen laptop. "This links the suspect positively to the murder and robbery investigation."
People coming and going
The employee of a neighbour told that Wolhuter had only been friendly and polite to him. "Perhaps it is better to always be rude, then you won’t be murdered. No really, this man always had a lot of people coming and going to his house and he was always kind and friendly to everyone, and now look, he’s dead, killed by those people that he was always good to."
Wolhuter was known as a kind and friendly man by those who knew him. A fellow employee, Hennie van Staden, who had worked alongside Wolhuter at the Country Crescent Hotel in Plettenberg Bay, described him. "Geoff was always neat and tidy. You could probably use the word, immaculate to describe him. He was so kind."
Several friends referred to Wolhuter as being kind and gentle. "He was a lovely man, such a pity that he had this one big flaw," said a friend. When asked about the "flaw" he casually told that Wolhuter was a convicted pedophile who had served time in prison for his offence and he reportedly also served a nine-year jail term for murder, and was released in 2003.
The suspect will appear in the Knysna Magistrate Court on May 5.
"The investigation continues and we appeal to anyone with information to call the investigating officer at the Knysna detectives at 044 3026600/22 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111," concluded Captain Pojie.
ARTICLE: Fran Kirsten
Investigating officers outside the home of murdered Geoffrey Wolhuter.
