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About Eric Hillary Lyell
Eric Hillary Lyell (1951 - 2019)
Brief overview:
Eric (68) a retired lawyer, from Vereeniging appears to have been abducted on 11th January 2019. His body was discovered by people in a sailing boat in the Vaal River on Saturday 12th January in the afternoon. They came across a floating body near the bridge over the Vaal River close to the pumping station in Vanderbijlpark and informed the police.
Eric was taken to Sebokeng Hospital, where Eric's daughter, Dr. Clarissa Gerber and her husband, Niël, identified her father's body.
Eric was last seen at Checkers in River Walk Vereeniging around 18h30 on 11th January.
Mr. Rassie Erasmus, a businessman who shares an office block with Eric on the old Verref site in Barrage Road, said that they had decided to have a barbecue with two other friends after work on the Friday afternoon. When Eric didn't arrive Rassie and Eric's children became increasingly concerned. The family checked over the fence of their father's house in Drie Riviere on the Saturday and saw that one garage door was open, and that one of the vehicles was missing. They found this very unusual, because Eric never left the garage doors open. By Sunday morning 13th January, the family was frantic with worry, and George, Eric's his son reported missing to the police.
A security video from Eric's neighbours house opposite shows that on the 11th January his Silver Jetta was driven backwards out of the yard around 21h00, where two black men climb into the backseats. It is not known if Eric had already been killed by this time. It is also not known as to whether Eric's attackers were waiting for him inside or outside of the house. A panga was found in the house next to the safe, but it does not appear to have been used in the attack. According to Eric's son George is further items were missing from the house.
Eric's Jetta was later found about 10 km from where his body was found. There was mud in the vehicle and signs of a fight, indicating that Eric could have resisted his attackers.
Two suspects were later arrested in the Eastern Cape.
On Monday 11th April 2022 Judge Anthony Thobane found Bongani Tau (21) and Andile Mpangeva (20) guilty of all the charges against them - murder, aggravated robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and obstruction of justice.
Tau, an employee of Eric's, who also stayed with him in the house and was like a 'butler' and a 'son' to him, and is accomplice, Mpangeva, apparently took the deceased to his house in the evening. Tau and Mpangeva beat Lyell with a pickaxe and strangled him with a rope.
Dr. Clarissa Gerber told Maroela Media at the time that Tau's grandmother lived with the family for many years and that the Lyells helped raise him.
The perpetrators stole Eric's Volswagen Jetta, a Huaweii mobile phone, his 9mm Beretta semi-automatic pistol with ammunition and a Seiko wristwatch.
According to Lumka Mahanjana, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority, the case has been adjourned until June 17th 2022 for pre-sentence reports.
The perpetrators have yet to be sentenced.
Brief Biography:
- Other Victims/Family
- Funeral/Memorial
- The Farm/Smallholding
- The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
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
- Bongani Tau (21) and Andile Mpangeva (20)
- Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
- Trial/Conviction
- 14/11/2022: During the Pretoria High Court hearing in Palm Ridge, Bongani Patrick Tau (24) and Andile Mpangeva (23) were each sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of Eric Hillary Lyell from Vereeniging.
Judge Tonny Thobane found them guilty on charges of murder, aggravated robbery, illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and obstruction of justice, says Lumka Mahanjana, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority.
- *State Prosecutor Adv. In aggravating sentencing, Trott Mphahlele said the deceased trusted the two. They killed him in his house. He requested the court to impose a sentence that would send a strong message of justice to the community.
Additional Biographical Information:
Links to Media articles:
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Eric Hillary Lyell's Timeline
| 1951 |
1951
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| 2019 |
January 11, 2019
Age 68
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Vanderbijlpark, Sedibeng, GP, South Africa
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