British couple beaten to death and their bodies thrown to crocodiles in South Africa, court hea скачать в хорошем качестве

British couple beaten to death and their bodies thrown to crocodiles in South Africa, court hea

Respected botanists Rod, 74, and Rachel Saunders, 63, met a gruesome end after they were kidnapped, beaten to death and then put in their sleeping bags and thrown into a river infested with man-eaters... Music in Video:    • Sentimentum   Daily Mail 2022-10-04T08:14:22Z A British couple were brutally murdered and their bodies thrown to crocodiles by a ruthless gang who pounced as they searched a remote South African nature reserve for rare seeds in 2018, a court heard. Respected botanists Rod Saunders, 74, and wife Rachel, 63, spent six months a year scouring wild mountains and forests for sought-after-stock for their thriving worldwide mail-order business. But while on their travels, it was said they met a gruesome end when they were targeted, kidnapped, beaten to death and then put in their sleeping bags and thrown into a river infested with man-eaters. Their badly decomposed bodies, which had been devoured by the reptiles when they were pulled out of the water by fishermen days later, were unrecognisable as the missing couple and were brought to mortuaries. It was only months later when police could find no trace of the British couple that they ordered all unidentified or unclaimed bodies in morgues to be DNA tested. It was then that Rod and Rachel were identified. The full-scale hunt for the seed hunters had already resulted in four arrests - three of them have been charged with their murder, kidnap, robbery and theft of the married couple. Sayefundeen Aslam Del Vecchio, 39, his wife Bibi Fatima Patel, 28, and their lodger at the time Mussa Ahmad Jackson, 35, all deny kidnap, murder, robbery and theft at Durban High Court. The fourth suspect, who was found to have bought cell phones belonging to the Saunders but was not involved in the kidnap and killing, was given a suspended sentence in return for vital evidence. The tragic couple were keen adventurers who set up a successful business in Cape Town selling seeds they found in remote areas to customers around the world and the court was told of their last journey. They left their home in Cape Town in their Toyota Land Cruiser on February 5, 2018, to keep a rendezvous in the Drakensberg Mountains in Kwa-Zulu Natal 900 miles away with a BBC TV documentary film crew. The internationally renowned botanists were interviewed by TV presenter Nick Bailey for an episode of Gardeners World as they searched the Drakensberg Mountain region for rare Gladioli flower seeds. Indeed a selfie taken by Mr Bailey and posted on his Twitter account and a photo taken by producer Robin Matthews during filming were believed to be the last snaps taken of them alive. After filming, expert horticulturist Rod and microbiologist wife Rachel, who had been married over 30 years, parted ways with the TV presenter and headed off to camp at a dam by a remote forest. They were last in contact with an employee at their workplace Silverhill Seeds which they ran from their home in Cape Town on February 8, just three days after they had set off to meet the BBC. Dr Saunders and her husband Rod said they were heading for the Ngoye Forest Reserve 90 miles north of Durban but were never heard from again. On February 10 the alarm was raised. The court was told: 'Around February 10 the investigating officer received information that Rodney Saunders and his wife Dr Rachel Saunders from Cape Town had been kidnapped in the Kwa-Zulu Natal region. 'It was established on February 13 that the defendants were drawing money from various ATM's which amounted to theft of R734,000 (£37,000) and there was the robbery of their Land Cruiser and of camping equipment. 'It is alleged that between February 10 and 15 at the Ngoye Forest the accused did unlawfully and intentionally kill Rachel Saunders and between the same dates did unlawfully and intentionally kill Rodney Saunders' it was said. On February 15, 2018, Sayefundeen Aslam Del Vecchio, 39, and his wife Bibi Fatima Patel, 28, were both arrested at their home in Endlovini, which is just 30 miles from the Ngoye forest where the Saunders vanished. It came after the Hawks, which is an organised police crime fighting unit, found a link between the cell phones belonging to Mr and Mrs Saunders and the cell phones of the suspects and they applied for a search warrant. It was said that a number of items which had been bought on Dr Saunders bank card were recovered including receipts in the handbag of Bibi Patel which corresponded with the date and time of the use of Dr Saunders bank card. The court heard: 'On March 23, the third accused Mussa Ahmad Jackson was arrested and he made a statement to the effect he was woken by Patel at their home on February 10 and told to meet Del Vecchio on the road. 'Del Vecc