LULEKANI – Three residents of Lulekani village Joseph Ubisi (22), Aaron Ubisi (23) and Collen Khoza (29) briefly appeared in the Lulekani magistrate's court on Monday on a charge of murder.

This follows an incident that took place at the Lulekani offices of the SPCA during the morning of Sunday, 5 May.

According to the spokesperson of the Lulekani Police Station, Insp Chris Nel, the deceased, Mrs Elna Coetzer, was found dead in the office on the day of the incident. Her body was discovered by one of her colleagues. There was an open knife wound on her body.

According to the statement the reason for her killing is believed to be robbery as a small amount of money was missing. The suspects were arrested last Friday evening. Ubisi and Khoza are both employees of the SPCA.

The statement further indicates that Ubisi was on leave on the day of the incident. The police also revealed that Ubisi is out on parole after he was sentenced to two years in jail for housebreaking last year. It is stated that the two suspects are brothers.

The accused were not asked to plead on Monday and the case was postponed to May 21. Their bail application was turned down on the basis that they might interfere with the police investigations. The police have appealed to anyone who has information regarding the case to inform them at Tel 083 635 0519.