ÜHLENHORST, NAMIBIA – 85-year-old Afrikaner farmer Izak Dreyer was attacked in his bed in the early-morning hours of December 16, 2010, tied up and gagged so that he either suffocated or suffered aheart attack. It was an extremely well-organised attack, the Namibian police said. The five males fled with the farmer’s bakkie and his weapons. The armed gang unscrewed the door to the kitchen to get into the homestead. Journalists © Dirk Heinrich and Ellanie Smit reported details in the Namibian news media.
FARMERS in the Uhlenhorst area were deeply shocked and angered by the brutal killing of 85-year-old Izak Dreyer on Wednesday night on the farm Newlands.
A group of five men gained access to the farmhouse, and after tying both his legs and hands together they gagged him in such a way that he either suffocated or had a heart attack. The Derm Police Support Initiative yesterday posted a reward of N$50,000 for anyone with information that leads to an arrest. Police suspect that the whole robbery was planned and that the burglars definitely knew the area very well. Commissioner Kobus Meyer of the Hardap Region said that they are looking for five suspects in connection with the murder and already have two names to follow up on after they questioned the workers on the farm. One of the men they are looking for was a previous employee of Dreyer. He added that they will also be looking into the cellphone records of all the employees to see if they can find further clues.
The gang were probably dropped off at the main gate of the farm on Wednesday night by a sedan car after which they walked more than 5 km to the farm house. There they broke into the house through the kitchen door by using what the police think were screwdrivers. The gang then probably headed straight for Dreyer’s bedroom, said Commissioner Meyer.
“The deceased was probably asleep, but even if he heard the suspects enter, an 85-year-old man who was not that mobile anymore, could hardly have put up a fight against five men” said one of his family members. Using a belt, cloth and even a telephone cord that the suspects found in the bedroom, they tied his hands and legs together and then gagged him with a big blue cloth.
This cloth around his mouth may have caused his death by suffocation or heart attack. Neighbours also said that Dreyer was beaten and that his face was badly injured, but he did not go out without a fight because his attempts to get loose caused chafing marks from his bonds.
The gang then trashed the room and the rest of the house and eventually took the safe that was in Dreyer’s bedroom. Police suspect that they were looking for a key for the safe or for money. They did not steal anything else of value from the house leaving behind TV’s, cameras and other valuables.
They then loaded the safe onto a Nissan bakkie which was parked outside and drove back to the main gate where they met up with the sedan car again. From there they drove about 40km along the Rehoboth road until they pulled off and broke open the safe. They then loaded everything into another car. As far as can be determined they stole a .38 Special revolver and the coin collection in the safe, while they left behind four hunting rifles.
The farmworkers first suspected that something was wrong early on Thursday morning when the cattle were in the wrong camps. Some time later a farmer from the area, Francois van Rensburg, found the abandoned bakkie in the veld. A post mortem will be held on Wednesday to determine the cause of death. Dreyer was born on the Newlands farm and has been farming there since about 1940.
He has been living alone for the past two years after his wife died. For any information about the murder readers can call Apie van Niekerk at 081 277 0257 or ‘Hoekus’ van Niekerk at 063 265 336. Author: Ellanie Smit at Uhlenhorst. Commissioner Kobus Meyer of the Hardap Region was photographed at the murder scene. © Photo: Ellanie Smit
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