Professor William Berthault van der Riet

Professor William Berthault van der Riet "Bill" (1946 - 2007)

Brief overview:

Bill (61), a retired microbiologist for CSIR, was found murdered in his home in Die Wilgers, Pretoria, by Dianne Jooste a Community Policing Forum (CPF) member after his gardener couldn't gain access to the property. He was found tied up, half-naked, beaten and strangled with a dishcloth in the lounge.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Street/Suburb
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)
  • Police say there have been six similar incidents in the past week. Van der Riet's murder comes days after Benjamin Fredeman Malan, son of SAPS logistics director Jacques Malan, was murdered, and days after the attempted murder of Lynnwood Ridge residents Pieter Schutte and Jacobus Hoffman.

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
  • Five years later in May 2012, Judge Cynthia Pretorius ordered that car guard Abel Magopa (38), of Dennilton serve in effect 25 years of the sentence. Magopa was convicted Bill's murder and robbing him of a suitcase, clothes, coins and a DVD player.

Additional Biographical Information:

Bill's friend of 30 years Owen Frisby said "He was an amateur astronomer; and had a butterfly named after him. He was a fascinatingly person, a walking encyclopedia."

• Official cause of death : Unnatural causes

Links to Media articles:

• http://archive.is/CW8Uk
• http://archive.is/LGKeE
• http://archive.is/21Mlk