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About David Boyd Varty
David Boyd Varty (1966 - 2005)
Brief overview:
David (39), a farmer from Greytown, was shot dead on 24th March 2005 when he fought a gang who assaulted, tied up and robbed his father and two of their staff. One of the men who attacked the Vartys, Lungiseni Mchunu, was on bail at the time despite being accused of the murder and aggravated robbery of Pietermaritzburg liquor merchant De Wet Joubert. He was also accused of the murder of Sandile Jili, a member of the robber gang who was shot dead during the attack on Joubert's business.
Five men were sentenced to life for the murder of Greytown farmer David Varty. Mchunu was given two life sentences for the murder of Joubert and Jili in 2005 and two more on Friday for the murder of David Varty and the aggravated robbery of David, his father Barry and staff Bhatomu Gasa and Busisiwe Lembethe. Judge Jan Combrink said Mchunu's part in the Varty robbery and murder made a mockery of the trust courts showed when releasing accused on bail. The court had released him trusting that he would stand trial (for the Joubert murder) yet he took part in the Varty attack. "Had you not been granted bail (for the Joubert murder and robbery) you would not have taken part in the Varty robbery and murder." He ordered that these remarks be sent to the magistrate who released Mchunu on bail. Combrink also imposed a life sentence for the Varty robbery. He ordered that the men serve at least 25 years before they were released on parole. The other men are Andreas Simelane, 39, Thembinkosi Dlomo, 29, Thandukwazi Nyembe, 48, all of Pietermaritzburg, and Sphamandla Sibiya, 38, of Nkandla. Combrink said he wanted Mchunu (who had been given four life sentences) not to see the outside of a prison again, but he would be free in 25 years. "That is the unfortunate result of bureaucratic decision-making in the administration of justice.
The correctional services authorities in their wisdom, or lack of it, have decided that he could apply for parole after serving a period." The law is that all sentences are served concurrently with a life sentence. He said that for the murder of Jili, the law was that where a person took part in an armed robbery (such as Mchunu) and subjectively foresaw resistance and possible injury or death, but recklessly proceeded with the robbery and someone was killed as Jili was then he (Mchunu) was guilty of Jili's murder. Mchunu got a life sentence for Jili's murder at the same time as getting life for Joubert's murder.
The judge said: "You reconnoitred the farm and invaded it gain, spending the whole night on the farm, invading the Varty house early in the morning. "This conduct shows your stubborn persistence to rob. The way in which you treated Lembethe and Gasa and the attack upon Barry Varty indicate a callousness that can never be pardoned. "There was no need for your bullying attack on them. "In a country as beset with violent crime as ours no politician has the right to tell me that crime is diminishing. Even as I speak someone somewhere is being robbed."
Brief overview:
Brief Biography:
- Other Victims/Family
- Funeral/Memorial
- The Farm/Smallholding
- The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
- 20/06/2011: "The local farming community has nothing but high praise for the sterling work being done by a group of dedicated policemen attached to Pietermaritzburg’s Organised Crime Unit under the command of Colonel Piet Scott, who lay claim to a near 100 percent success rate in solving farm murders in the KZN Midlands since 2003.
- Of the nineteen Midlands farm murder cases handled by the team dating back to the murder of Shaun Clark in Camperdown (2003), only one, arising from the murder of Philip Rudolph Buys in Weenen in September 2003, is classed as “unsolved”. The unit arrested a total of 50 culprits in connection with the eighteen “solved” cases with 24 of the killers sentenced to life imprisonment and others receiving sentences ranging from an effective 30 years imprisonment to 18 years imprisonment.
- The midlands farm murder cases that have been solved by the team include the murders of: Shaun Clark of Camperdown (2003); Johannes Willem Bruwer (Camperdown, 2003); Parvathie Surapen (Thornville, 2003); Charles Hyett Shepherd (Bergville, 2003); Nora Joyce Gevers (Wartburg, 2004); David Boyd Varty (Rietvlei, 2005); Trevor Anthony Weightman Trevor Weightman (Winterton, 2005); Jacqueline Ivy Chatterton (Boston, 2005); Ezra Arieh Podolski (Eric) (Cramond, 2006); Andrew Roy Main (Cramond, 2007); David Merwyn Green (Estcourt, 2007); Alan Rowe (Rietvlei, 2009); Erasmus Mncube Erasmus Mncube (and attack on his employers, Collin and Nola Barrett at Nottingham Road in 2009); Dr. Warwick Anthony Dorning (Mpophomeni, 2009); Lynette Ralfe (Colenso, 2010); Lorraine Karg , Hilda Linyane, Zakeue Shayi Mhlongo (Mooi River, 2010) and Radash Anandlal (Cramond, 2010)
- Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Joey Jeevan, said the management of the SAPF commends Colonel Scott and the unit for their “sterling investigation and their dedication to duty”."
- 71 farm murders in Colenso, Winterton rural areas between 2001 and 2011, Since 2001 there have been 17 Farmers and around 54 staff / community members murdered on 83 farms in Winterton, Colenso and surrounding areas.
Attack Details:
- Date and time of attack
- Weapons
- Items Stolen
- Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
- Torture, Gratuitous violence
- Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.
Perpetrator details:
- Number and Descriptions
- Arrests
- Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
- Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
- Trial/Conviction
Additional Biographical Information:
- Identity Number : 6605275171080
- Cause of death : Unnatural cause
- https://archive.is/6pkzY
Links to Media articles:
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David Boyd Varty's Timeline
| 1966 |
May 27, 1966
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| 2005 |
March 24, 2005
Age 38
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Greytown, (South) Umzinyathi DC, KZN, South Africa
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