Police say troubled relationship may explain Dawn Park killing amid wider probe

Police investigating the death of Jabulile Ntimba say the killing may have arisen from a troubled relationship, as investigators continue to examine whether a series of recent female deaths in Gauteng are linked.

Who, what and where

Ntimba, described as about 30, was found partially clothed and wrapped in a sheet on Lama Street in Villa Lisa, Dawn Park, on September 17 with a fatal throat injury. Acting Gauteng police commissioner Major General Fred Kekana said preliminary information indicated she had been killed elsewhere and her body dumped in Dawn Park.

Possible motive and arrests

Deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili told a media briefing that investigators were “picking up signs that her murder stemmed from a rocky relationship.” She described this as a possible love triangle and said:

“In Jabulile Ntimba’s case, it appears to be an indication of a murder that stemmed from a relationship. This describes the possible love triangle. That is what the team is picking up.”

Mosikili said police would not disclose further details to avoid compromising the investigation. A man and two women were due to appear in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday over Ntimba’s murder.

Wider investigation and missing identification

Mosikili said police were still working to determine whether the recent killings were connected and had not ruled out a serial killer.

“We are still connecting the dots,”

she said, adding that investigators were trying to see which cases were linked.

She also said the number of women found dead had risen to 10 after a body was discovered in Soweto on Sunday night. Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said the Soweto woman, believed to be in her twenties, was found wrapped in a duvet in a dam at Moroka at 5pm on Sunday. Police opened an inquest and had not said whether her death was linked to the Ekurhuleni killings.

Mosikili appealed to families to help identify the woman found in Olifantsfontein on September 7, the only body in the Ekurhuleni cases still without a name, and said the police reward of R400,000 still stood.

Investigation approach and resources

Mosikili said investigators would not rush the cases to court:

“We don’t want to go to court for the purpose of just arresting and going to court. We want to make sure that the investigation team does thorough work and does thorough analysis.”

Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia said that crime intelligence head Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo and KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi had been brought in to help.

How to report information

Police asked anyone with information to call Crime Stop on 08600-10111 or use the MySapsApp.