A year after a Schauderville man was found in his backyard with his throat slit, the investigation into his death has delivered nothing.
Though Reginald Prinsloo’s family were questioned extensively, his wife and daughter believe other leads were not properly investigated and the killers are still roaming the streets.
Now, after a breakdown in communication with the investigating officer, the family has lodged a formal complaint with the police, hoping that a new detective and a fresh pair of eyes might provide some clarity and closure.
Kezia Prinsloo, Reginald’s daughter, said they believed that not enough had been done to find those responsible for her father’s death.
“I think they had their minds made up that we might be involved and did very little to follow up on any other possible leads,” she said.
On May 11 last year, Reginald’s 60-year-old wife, Liz, visited a nearby community centre for a knitting class, as she did on most Wednesdays.
Upon returning home at about noon she was met by her distraught sister running from the house in Roos Street.
“I went into the house and nothing seemed wrong or out of place.
“It was only when I went to the back door when I found the most horrible sight of my life,” Liz said.
She found her 61-year-old husband lying in the backyard in a pool of blood.
His throat had been slit from ear to ear and blood was gushing from the gaping wound.
A kitchen knife, from a set in their home, was found about a metre from Reginald.
Within minutes, emergency services personnel were on the scene, trying to stabilise him, but it was too late.
“My husband was an aircraft engineer and mechanic by trade and he was forever tinkering with things,” Liz said.
“When I left the house he was working on something in the kitchen, and all of his tools were still exactly as he left it.
“All our valuables were still there, so this attack was not a robbery.”
No fingerprints were found at the scene, and police found no bloodied footprints in or around the house.
Camera footage from nearby properties also provided no answers.
In the weeks that followed, the family were interviewed several times by the police, but Liz said she felt as if she had a target on her back.
“I completely understand why I was under investigation — it makes total sense that I would be a suspect, considering my husband’s life insurance policies.
“But at times they made snide comments and were downright rude.
“It felt like they had already made up their minds that I had orchestrated my husband’s murder.”
A few weeks before Reginald’s death, he was involved in an altercation with suspected drug dealers near their home.
According to the family, who witnessed the incident, he intervened when a group of men allegedly tried to rob someone in the street.
“We provided the police with information and descriptions [but] they never provided us any real feedback on the investigation.”
A phone call between Kezia and the investigating officer, requesting a media statement, ended in an argument and a total breakdown in communication.
She then decided to take the matter into her own hands.
Kezia first reached out to the police’s communications office, then made contact with the provincial head office to lodge a formal complaint about the way the investigation had been handled.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed that she had been contacted by the Prinsloo family and compiled a media statement on their request, asking for anyone with information to come forward.
The statement was released in January, nine months after the murder.
“It is unclear why a media statement never went out when the incident took place, but a statement has since been compiled and circulated.
“The investigation is still ongoing and we request anyone that might have information about Prinsloo’s death to come forward,” Naidu said.
After complaining to the police’s provincial head office, the family met high-ranking police officials earlier this week and the case is now under review for possible reassignment to a new investigating officer.
Liz said if a new detective took over the investigation, and could prove that all avenues had been exhausted in the hunt for her husband’s killer, she might find closure and be able to finally start moving on.
However, Kezia said she would not rest until an arrest had been made.
The police have urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Gelvandale detectives on 073-448-5539.
HeraldLIVE
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