Update

KNYSNA NEWS - Northern Cape police have confirmed that the Knysna lawyer who was killed in a shooting in Vioolsdrift on Monday 30 October was 54-year-old Coenie de Beer. He was slain alongside his friend and owner of an Overberg guest farm, 56-year-old James Kriel.

The shooting occurred on a smallholding in Vioolsdrift where, according to Northern Cape police spokesperson Colonel Cherelle Ehlers, four men were visiting a friend. 

Neighbours heard gunshots in the early hours of Monday morning and went to investigate.

Ehlers said that the owner of the property confessed to shooting two men and expressed his intention to hand himself in. 

Law Enforcement then found De Beer and Kriel shot, and subsequently arrested Jacob 'Japie' Dawid Malan Claassens (59). 

De Beer, a practising attorney since he was admitted in 1999, was a very active and loved member of the Knysna community, often assisting local schools in fundraising or sponsorship initiatives.

According to Ehlers, the two victims succumbed to their injuries in an Upington hospital on Wednesday 1 November. Claassens remains in custody pending his bail application scheduled for Tuesday 7 November. Ehlers said the investigation continues.

Article: Knysna lawyer killed in Vioolsdrift shooting

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