DNA of arrested Mozambican Lorenzo Gideon Mazumze 33 linked to 22 Feb 2008 murder attack on Beintjies farm, Malelane:

Arrested Mozambican's DNA linked to Beintjies farm murder and 14 other violent attacks and crimes in 2007-2008 in Nelspruit: - 2014-01-15 -------- Since the South African government signed into law the creation of a centralized DNA-database in August 2013 after a protracted media-campaign by forensic scientics, there have been an increasing number of convictions based on the DNA database of arrested persons. The latest case is in Nelspruit, where DNA samples have linked an arrested Mozambican man, Lorenzo Gideon Mazunze, 33, to a 22 February 2008 farm murder in Malelane Mpumalanga on the 'Beintjies farm'. He was also linked to 14 other crimes in the same area before his arrest. The trial continues on 16 April 2014 in the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court, reports Legal Brief. Mbombela - DNA samples have linked Mozambican man Lorenzo Gideon Mazunze, 33 to a 22 February 2008 farm murder in Malelane, Mpumalanga. The man 's DNA also was linked to fourteen other armed attacks and violence targetting whites. The Nelspruit Regional Court heard on Wednesday Jan 15 2014 that Lorenzo Gideon Mazunze, 33, was arrested shortly after g the murder of a farmer at the Beintjies' family farm, a Sapa correspondent reported. Mazunze, who was also linked to 14 other cases, including house and farm robberies, murder, and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, was not asked to plead. "Blood samples taken from the suspect and his co-accused, who is not before court, have linked him positively to the Beintjies farm attack...," police spokesman Louis Christopher van Stander told the court. He said the police received "a number of complaints" from Malelane residents about robberies starting in August 2007, and which stopped shortly after Mazunze's arrest in 2008. Van Stander testified that on the day of his arrest, Malelane police received a call from a motorist about a wounded man lying next to the N4."On arrival, I found the suspect, who was bleeding from a bullet wound. He was lying about half a kilometre from the Beintjies' farm. He told me he had been shot by certain motorists while he was hitchhiking next to the road." He was in fact wounded during a shoot-out with the Beintjies. http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=20140116093559684 Wallet found Van Stander testified that after searching Mazunze, he found a wallet taken during another robbery at another farm. It contained banknotes dating from the 1970s and 1980s. There was also a R5 000 Mozambican bank note. "After I went to the Beintjies' farm to investigate, I discovered there was another person who had been shot dead," Van Stander testified. The farmer's wife said the wallet belonged to her. A small bag and clothes stolen from the Beintjies' farm that night were also found in Mazunze's possession. Subsequently, another farmer's wife, who was the victim of another farm robbery, said the bank notes belonged to her."The suspect was also linked positively to two more farm robberies around the Barberton area," he said. "I then went to draw blood samples from the suspect and took them to the Pretoria Laboratory for testing on 28 March 2008. He was also positively linked to other cases of house and farm robberies around Malelane and Barberton," he said. Magistrate Andre Geldenhuys postponed the trial to 16 April. - SAPA http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Mozambican-linked-to-farm-murder-20140115