When the husband of murdered KwaZulu-Natal minister Liezel de Jager didn’t turn up for lunch with his father-in-law a few days after they had laid her to rest, the elderly man suspected something was amiss and alerted the police.
On Wednesday morning, four days after he was declared missing, Werner de Jager was found sitting in his car on a south coast sugar cane plantation by a farmer.
A source with knowledge of the incident said Werner appeared distressed and disoriented. He was airlifted to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment. He is in a stable condition. No foul play is suspected in connection with his medical condition.
More than two weeks ago, Werner discovered the body of his wife — who was described as a sincere, humble servant of God — in the yard of their home in Amanzimtoti, south of Durban, close to the NG Kerk Suidkus where she preached.
The 38-year-old mother of two girls was found with cuts and strangulation marks on her throat, and none of her possessions had been taken. It is understood the children were inside the house when she was attacked.
• 2 - Liezel de Jager and her husband have two daughters
• Kanoneiland – the area in the Northern Cape from where the De Jager family moved about 2 years ago
— In Numbers
Another source with knowledge of the incident confirmed that Werner called his alarm company to report that his wife had been attacked. An hour earlier he had cancelled a panic alarm to a local security company, saying it was activated by accident.
She had just returned home from an early-morning jog.
Last week family and friends bid farewell to Liezel in a moving memorial, where Werner, in a brief message read out by a relative, said he wished he had written her more notes and poems.
“You know me and our girls love you dearly. You have left a void in our lives. We will miss you forever. Rest in God’s arms, my love.
“Know everybody misses you and will for years.”
As Werner recovers in hospital, police are no closer to finding his wife’s killer.
“The murder case is still under investigation and a statement will be released once there is a breakthrough,” said KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Thembeka Mbele.
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