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About Jessica Carol Wheeler
Jessica Carol Wheeler (1987 - 2005)
Brief overview:
Jessica (18), suffocated to death when her murderer/s pushed her head into the ground. The autopsy report revealed she had inhaled sand which was found in her stomach. Her body was found, on 13th October 2005, in the grounds of St George’s Anglican Church in Main Street, Knysna.
Jessica had been at the Stones Nightclub the previous night. Heinrich van Rooyen, who was later charged for her murder, and that of Victoria Stadler, (20), who was found murdered in the Noetzie forest a month later, was a DJ at the club. It was reported that Jessica and van Rooyen had a sexual relationship. Around 02h00, Jessica left the club to go back to her flat which was a few blocks away. From there she was lured outside to the church grounds where she was murdered.
Brief Biography:
- Other Victims/Family
- Funeral/Memorial
- The Street/Suburb
- The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
- The day after Victoria Stadler was found strangled to death in the Noetzie forest (10/11/2020), the body of Peter McHelm (48) was found one kilometre away in the same forest. Aubrey Kamoetie and Byron Moses were convicted for the murder of Peter Mc Helm.
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
- Heinrich van Rooyen was arrested for the murders of both Jessica and Victoria. He was found guilty on both counts and sentenced to 30 years in jail without parole. He has always maintained his innocence.
- "Judge Nathan Erasmus had no doubt of Van Rooyen’s guilt. On the strength of the prosecutor’s eye-witness, Kobus Minnie, and DNA evidence at both crime scenes, he sentenced Van Rooyen to 20 years for indecent assault, life (30 years) for Jessica’s murder, 3 years for defeating the ends of justice, life (30 years) for Victoria’s murder and 5 years for malicious damage to property – the burning of Victoria’s car."
- Alan Elsdon, a former police detective and author spent three years investigating the three murders, and tracked down an eye witness, who made a written statement to an independent attorney, which was also video'd and audio recorded. Extract - "He said the witness had seen Wheeler in the church grounds on the night she was murdered. She was with two other men when an argument broke out. Jessica raised her voice and he described how one man grabbed her by her hair and forced her face into the ground. The second male grabbed and held Jessica’s feet as she struggled to break free. When Jessica ceased to show any form of life they turned her onto her back and removed her shoes and jeans. The men probably wanted Jessica’s death to appear as sexually motivated.”
- When Jessica's body was discovered, police found three cigarette butts at the murder scene. Jessica's DNA was found on one of them, on the second one, no DNA was found, on the third, DNA of an “unknown male” was found. Elsdon said they knew the identities of both men implicated and had provided their findings to the SAPS in the Western Cape, but he said that police were not interested in this new evidence.
- Elsdon is adamant that, “Undisputed evidence shows a complete cover-up took place by unethical investigating officers in the Wheeler murder, to protect corrupt policemen and drug lords in the town." "In the unrelated Stadler murder, evidence proves the same officers conspired, for the sake of convenience, to arrest Heinrich and brand him a ‘serial killer’ for both cases.” "
- Spokesperson for the Western Cape police, Captain Malcolm Pojie, had previously said that police were looking into the matter. After being contacted again to follow up, Pojie said, “There is nothing I can further comment on, the matter has already been finalised.”
- Heinrich van Rooyens family still believe in his innocence, and stated, “We are unhappy with the way police handled this matter. As we know the police would have a lot to lose if Heinrich was found not guilty.
Additional Biographical Information:
- Official cause of death : Unnatural (REF 375/05)
Links to Media articles:
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Jessica Carol Wheeler's Timeline
| 1987 |
January 15, 1987
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| 2005 |
October 13, 2005
Age 18
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Knysna, South Cape DC, WC, South Africa
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