MISS MURDER.

Putaruru Press, 5 January 1928, Page 5

MISS MURDER.

-COOL PLAN OF ACTION. Eight Crimes in One Day. To have coolly murdered eight men and women, including the murderer’s own wife and stepdaughter and five police officers, and then, after wounding three other people, to have committed suicide, and to' have done all this in a few hours of the •early morning, must surely be a record in the history of crime. Yet this was the actual performance on Friday, May 6, 1927, of S. A. J. Swart, a rich young South African farmer, whose farm at the foot of the ill-omened Majuba is a scene of such tranquil peace that in the district it was always known as “ the mountain paradise.” It was the attempt to arrest him •on a charge of incest that proved the occasion of this grim tragedy. : Swart knew that there was a warrant out for his arrest, and he had • openly boasted that he would never be taken alive. He even went so far as to summon a local solicitor on the day before the tragedy, and was eloseted with him for some hours while he dictated a long document in which he expressed his inflexible resolution to resist capture 'at all costs. He then dictated a letter to General Hertzog, dismissed his solicitor, and retired to spend his last night on earth. His solicitor reports that throughout the whole of this lengthy interview Swart was cool and collected, and completely master of himself.

Police Attack Fails. In the meantime the police had 'been making full and, one,would suppose, adequate preparations. In South Africa the rural police are a semi-military force, and the district • commandant, Captain Ashman, had -arrived at Charlestown himself, knowing his man, to direct operations. He had with him Head-con-stable Mitchell, just about to retire on pension, three sergeants, and six constables, in addition to the two drivers of the police cars. At three in the morning they had an early meal in the local inn and set out for Hill. As they drew near the farm the cars and the party broke up into sections of two men and approached the homestead from five different points. Just as they started a native loomed up out of the thick blanket of mist, which covered - everything, riding a thoroughbred black stallion, which the police recognised as Swart’s own riding horse. They detained the boy, who refused to say anything, except that his "“baas” was already up, fastened the horse to the gatepost, and proceeded on their way.

The house had the usual outbuildings, including a large cattle kraal, surrounded by a low stone wall, and as the first .couple approached Constable Feucht received a charge from a shot-gun full in the face, shattering his left eye. His companion man- : aged to carry him to safety, and informed Captain Ashman, who arrived at that moment, of what had happened. The wounded man was taken back to the cars, and the remainder of the party formed a cordon, round the kraal, inside which it seemed Swart was hiding. Swart’s Escape From Farm. However, in the darkness and mist, the monster appears to have escaped into some of the outbuildings, from which he proceeded methodically to pick off his attackers as the coming •dawn revealed them. He was known as an amazing shot, and the next five rounds each killed a man, including Captain Ashman and Head-Constable Mitchell. With his adversaries’ numbers thus reduced, he decided to break cover and, aided by his knowledge of the ground and the still heavy mist, got as far as the farm gate unseen, where, equally no doubt to his surprise and delight, he found his own horse waiting ready saddled. He mounted and rode to a neighbouring farm, where he arrived just before 8 o’clock. With complete comkvpjosure and cheerfulness he asked ■Mrs. Swanepoel for a cup of coffee and added that he had just killed live policemen, and was now off to "kill some other friends. He then remounted, after telling his alarmed host and hostess that if there were any difficulty in finding the body of Sergeant Grove they were to look in the middle of the mealie field, and •shortly afterwards Swanepoel rode post haste toj. Charlestown to give the alarm. Murder of Stepdaughter. Soon after this, Swart appears to have rnet his stepdaughter, Mrs. K night, aipl her farm manager, Mr. Roets, driving along the road and their two dead bodies are the only

_ -evidence of what, happened at. the Swart then rode straight

' to Charlestown and was seen tearing at full gallop into the village, armed to the teeth. After killing Mrs. Knight and Roets he had held up a passing motor car, and when it refused to stop had fired twice, wounding the driver through both legs, and also a lady passenger. Fortunately the driver was able to keep at the wheel, and the car’s speed enabled them to escape. On reaching Charlestown, Swart made straight for a cottage in a back street where he had discovered that his wife was hiding from him. The entire household, with the exception, of the elderly Mrs. Swart and a young cripple, Lukas van Vuuren, fled in terror as he approached with the obvious purpose of murder. Van Vuuren reports that Swart appeared quite unflurried and spoke calmly to his wife before putting two bullets through her head and breast.

By this time the whole village was aroused. The alarm had first been given at the inn, and the local Rifle Association turned out to destroy this devil in human form. A police patrol was approaching from Vilksrust, where the alarm had been given by telephone, and a little way out of Charlestown along the Volksrust road there came the end. There was long-distance sniping, and then Swart was seen to dismount and go to the ground. The police and Rifle Association members drew near with caution, as well they might, but caution was no longer required. Swart lay pillowed on his wide-brimmed hat, with a pistol wound through his temples, a service revolver in his hand, two more in his pockets, and a rifle lying at his side. A few yards away his horse was unconcernedly cropping the grass on which the dew was not yet dry. He had kept his word, and the last bullet had been for himself.