Duncan Lethbridge

Duncan Lethbridge (1943 - 2019)

Brief overview:

Duncan (76), was suffocated to death after being tied and gagged with a cloth in his mouth during a home-invasion by two men who accosted him, his wife and house-keeper at his Sardinia Road home.

During the attack, Lethbridge and his wife Cathy were tied up and had their mouths sealed with sellotape. Postmortem results showed Lethbridge had subsequently suffocated to death.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
  • Duncan's wife Cathy (71), was also savagely assaulted before the intruders emptied the safe of cash and valuables before fleeing the scene. Some two hours after the intrusion the housekeeper was able to free herself of her bonds and raise the alarm.
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Farm/Smallholding
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
  • The suspects took an undisclosed amount of cash and other valuables and fled the scene on foot
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
  • 3 men
• Arrests
  • Bongani Faku, (35), was nabbed in Humansdorp on Tuesday, just five days after horrendous attack
  • The police apparently have firm leads on the two of the men who participated in the attack.
  • Lukhanyo Faku, (25), (cousin of Bongani) was arrested at 3am on Sunday morning at a house in Khayamnandi, Despatch at the weekend, appeared in the Humansdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday morning.
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction
  • The suspect was due to appear in Humansdorp Magistrate Court on Wednesday 21st, on charges of house robbery and murder.
  • Police spokesperson, Captain Gerda Swart, said the case against Faku was postponed to September 26th. Faku is expected to appear in court later this month alongside his cousin, Bongani Faku, who was arrested earlier on charges of murder and house robbery.

Additional Biographical Information:

Recently-retired Lethbridge was one of South Africa’s top boatbuilders and recipient earlier this year of an industry lifetime achievement award.

He founded St Francis Marine over 20 years ago after being introduced to catamarans by naval architect Angelo Lavranos, with whom he later developed a business relationship.

Since then his yard on the outskirts of St Francis Bay in the Eastern Cape province has produced world-class cruising catamarans that helped grow South Africa’s boatbuilding brand. His company’s flagship St Francis 50 model is a previous winner of Cruising World’s Boat of the Year Award.

Links to Media articles:

• http://archive.fo/hxXo7
• https://web.archive.org/web/20190219014653/http://multihullsbyus.co...
• https://web.archive.org/web/20191003092309/https://www.ibinews.com/...
• https://web.archive.org/web/20191003093017/https://www.ibinews.com/...
• http://archive.fo/2jEso
• http://archive.ph/RsffJ
• http://archive.vn/1gHpp
• http://archive.vn/d5mB5
• http://archive.vn/2jmp6
• http://archive.vn/BDmZ3
• http://archive.vn/c2HBo