George Ryno Helmand

George Ryno Helmand (known as Ryno) (1984 - 2007)

Brief overview:

Ryno (23), and his father, George Henry Richard Helmand (56), were shot dead in a hail of bullets during an armed robbery, outside George's place of work, BG Scrap Metals in Hoy Street, Brakpan on the morning of 4th April 2007 around 06h00.

Three men in a metallic light blue Nissan Skyline pretended to be selling a bag of scrap metal, opened fire at the father and son without any warning.

The perpetrators got away with a briefcase and a few thousand Rand in cash.

An eyewitness, who does not want to be named due to fearing for his life, said he had seen the Skyline before at the seen scrap dealer.

"Ryno drove behind his father every morning to make sure he was all right, before he went to work at another branch," explained Ryno's wife Gerda.

The pockmarks in the vans' bodywork and a wall bore witness to the rain of bullets of how they both died.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Street/Suburb
• 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
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

• Official cause of death : Unnatural causes
• ID Nr: 8306055111085

Links to Media articles:

• https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000188374744826
• https://graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=2953795