Willem de Lange

Willem "Wimpie" de Lange (1977 - 1999)

Brief overview:

Wimpie (22), went missing on 13th August 1999, two weeks before he was due to be married. The police initially ignored the report, believing that he had merely 'got cold feet' about the wedding. They found his severely decomposed body in a hut in Ivory Park. His body had been chopped up into various pieces, and buried in a shallow grave, about one metre from the killers bed. The skull and bones of another victim were also found in his hut.

The police uncovered that money had been withdrawn twice, using Willem's bank card. They were unsure as to how the killer obtained his PIN number, and speculated that Willem was forced to divulge it before he was murdered.

Police spokesperson, Captain Andy Pieke, said they were also investigating the possibility that Willem was murdered "on demand" specifically for his body parts. Traditional African rituals can sometimes be extremely gruesome to the Western eye. South African traditional healers, called Sangomas, are known to have to drink the spurting blood from the neck of a slaughtered goat, as part of the initiation ritual.

Excerpt from the article - "Many of these African traditional healers (also known as witch doctors) use 'Muti' in many of their rituals and practises. Muti can consist of plants as well as animal organs and bones. For countless decades, South Africa has been plagued by unscrupulous healers who use human body parts in their rituals. Many a murder has been committed to obtain these human body parts. Often, little boys of all race groups, are killed and mutilated for their genitals. Miraculous properties are then ascribed to the Muti by these healers."

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
  • The accused (54), not named, subsequently appeared in court on two charges of murder. He applied for bail on 17th February 2000.

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes
• https://web.archive.org/web/20010709144634/http://www.homestead.com...
• https://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=3713664