Jimmy Maketta (born 1964/5) is a South African rapist and serial killer who in 2007 plead guilty and was convicted on 16 counts of murder, 19 counts of rape. A state psychologist described him as a psychopath.

Maketta described how he would watch farm labourers from a hill on Friday evenings near the township of Philippi, Cape Town. From there he would select drunken victim that he attacked mostly at night during his nine month reign of terror between April and December 2005.

Serial killer guilty on 47 counts

By Caryn Dolley - Cape Times

May 03, 2007

Convicted serial killer and rapist Jimmy Maketta was a "dangerous psychopath lacking remorse" who should go to prison "for ever" as he could not be rehabilitated and would continue to murder, a psychiatrist testified in the Cape High Court on Wednesday.

Maketta, 43, pleaded guilty and was convicted on 47 charges, including 16 of murder and 19 of rape, as relatives of his victims crammed into the courtroom.

He is to be sentenced on Thursday.

Wearing a green check shirt tucked into black jeans, Maketta kept his head bowed as Sean Kaliski, a psychiatrist at Valkenberg Hospital, testified.

"Maketta had been categorised as a serial killer because he's just killed so many people. A serial killer is someone who kills more than two or three victims (followed by) a cooling-off period. During that time he reflects in and enjoys moments of the murder.

"There is zero possibility of him being rehabilitated. It is hopeless. If a person has killed so many victims it's impossible to say he's not dangerous.

"He's a psychopath with a typical childhood. He often fought with others, set things alight, ran away from home and was involved in incidents of bestiality," said Kaliski.

"He is mild-mannered, soft spoken and pleasant-looking but he lacks remorse. When I asked what he felt about all this he just shrugged his shoulders," he said, as some people in the packed public gallery stifled sobs.

Sollie Marthinus, Maketta's attorney, said his client had come from a dysfunctional family in Grabouw and had lived in bushes after completing Grade 6.

"He was one of 15 children and he left home. He started stealing and later the serious crimes started. He left for Cape Town where he stayed with his sister in Mitchells Plain. He couldn't get a permanent job but did try to make something of his life, he said.

Investigating officer Jonathan Morris said during cross examination earlier that, after he tracked down Maketta to Constantia and arrested him in
December 2005, he had found letters he had written.

He said he wrote the letters and was responsible for three murders. We also found a map he drew. It directed us to Mitchells Plain where (victim) Griet Koelas body was found, he said.

Morris said after a murder in Claremont that Maketta had called 10111 twice to tell police where his victim's body was and drew a map for them with instructions on how to find it.

(After his arrest) he also wrote me a letter to say thank you for the manner he was handled.

He said he always wants to be in contact with me and has given his heart to Jesus and turned over a new leaf.

Morris said residents of Philippi, an area Maketta targeted between April and December 2005, had been terrified when was on the loose.

(Maketta) got away from police by running away and taking a taxi to Grassy Park or Mitchells Plain, he said.

Before he was asked to plead, the state withdrew seven charges, including those of indecent assault and attempted murder. When Justice Essa Moosa asked him what he would plead, Maketta looked confused.

To make this easier on me I will take it all on me and plead guilty, Maketta answered moments before he was convicted of the 47 charges.

He smiled as he was led out the courtroom in shackles and handcuffs, when the case was adjourned for an hour.

Outside the court building, more than 50 of his victim?s relatives gathered on the steps chanting: We want Jimmy. He raped and killed our people. We want his blood.

Penata Petersen, 16, cried as she said Maketta had murdered her mother two years ago.

  

Maketta: 'rapist watching from a distance'

Iol.co.za

May 02, 2007

Self-confessed serial killer and rapist Jimmy Maketta stood on a hill on Fridays, from where he could see in the distance Philippi farm workers leaving their jobs to start their weekend drinking, the Cape High Court heard on Wednesday.

Captain Jonathon Morris, the detective who finally arrested Maketta, 46, told the court: "The accused says most of his rape victims were drunk when he attacked them at night, and they did not even know they had been raped."

Maketta pleaded guilty before Judge Abie Motala and two assessors to 47 charges - 19 of rape, 16 of murder, six housebreakings, three assaults, one kidnapping, one theft and one attempted murder.

His capture, after police first arrested the wrong person, brought to an end Maketta's reign of terror among workers in the Philippi farming community on the Cape Flats between April and December 2005.

Maketta is to be sentenced at noon on Thursday.

Members of the Philippi farming community packed into the court room, where prosecutor Susan Galloway handed up a batch of documents, comprising letters that Maketta had written - one to his wife Janetta and two to Morris in which he gives details of the rapes and slayings.

Morris told the court he took over the investigation in December 2005, after the initial probe had resulted in the arrest of the wrong person.

He said he had to question all the witnesses a second time, and re-visit the various crime scenes.

At one of the crime scenes he had found a cellphone still switched on, that Maketta had left behind.

Morris said there were eight calls to the same number, and when he dialled the number it turned out to be Maketta's son in Grabouw.

Morris said he went to Grabouw, where the son gave him Maketta's address in Mitchells Plain.

Maketta no longer lived there, but Morris tracked him down to a house in Constantia, where Maketta was doing a paint job. He arrested Maketta, who then took him to the Steurhof railway station, where Maketta lived in the bush.

Morris said he confiscated Maketta's clothing and food found in the bush, and Morris then took him to his office in Bellville South for questioning.

Morris said Maketta was hesitant during the questioning, and denied everything - until Morris confronted him with the cellphone Morris had found, and letters that Maketta had written, which Morris had in his possession.

Only then did Maketta admit the murders and rapes, and even informed Morris about murders that Morris at that stage did not know about.

Morris told the court he locked Maketta in a cell and the next day took him for his first court appearance.

Maketta was linked to the murders and rapes by DNA tests, cellphone data, trips that Maketta had made with the police to point out murder scenes, where bodies were found, and hand writing samples.

On two occasions, Maketta had even telephoned police radio control to inform the police where bodies could be found.

Morris said Maketta had also written to the Son and the Voice newspapers, to say he was responsible for murders.

"He also wrote to me, to thank me for the way I had treated him. In this letter he says no matter what happens to him, he always wants to stay in touch with me.

"He says he's given his heart to Jesus, and has turned a new leaf."

  

DNA tests could condemn Philippi suspect

Norman Joseph - Cape Argus

February 08, 2006

The results of DNA tests due this week could link the alleged Philippi serial killer Jimmy Maketta to the 50 charges he is facing.

The Wynberg magistrate's court heard this on Tuesday when Maketta, 41, appeared again in connection with 13 charges of murder, three of attempted murder, 22 of rape, one of robbery with aggravating circumstances, five of housebreaking, four of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and two of kidnapping.

Maketta, the man linked to the Philippi serial killings, evaded a police dragnet for weeks.

Dressed in a neat blue shirt and jeans, he seemed relaxed, even smiling when he was later led down to the court cells in the basement by detectives.

Senior state prosecutor Eleanor Mocke told the court that the prosecution expected the DNA results later this week.

Dozens of case dockets are to be perused this week by a team of senior State advocates in the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions in Cape Town.

Magistrate Marietjie van Eeden postponed the case until Monday. Maketta was represented by Legal Aid Board attorney Cheryl Horne. She was standing in for her colleague, attorney John Vrieslaar, who was unavailable.

Maketta's arrest in Constantia last year followed a reign of terror in the Philippi farmlands.

Most of the victims were beaten to death with a wooden pole.

The 50 charges include:

May: Farmworker Nolusindiso Sono was found raped and murdered on Weltevrede Farm, Weltevrede Road, Philippi.

May: Farmworker Mina Javas was raped and murdered on Highlands Farm, Weltevrede Road, Philippi. Her body was thrown into an irrigation dam.

July: Farmworker Richard Cornelius was murdered on the Bernie Oelof Farm in Punt Road, Philippi.

July: Farmworker Hilton Augustead was murdered on a farm bordering Philippi and Westridge.

October: An unidentified man was found murdered on the Bernie Oelof Farm in Punt Road, Philippi.

October: The murder of farmworker Petrus Marks, whose body was found in an irrigation dam on Onverwacht Farm, Punt Road in Philippi.

October: The naked body of a farmworker, Magriet Koela, was found in the bush on the Brock Sandmine Farm, Old Weltevrede Road in Philippi.

November: The body of farmworker Jennifer Petersen was found in an irrigation dam on the Geduld Farm, off Weltevrede Road, Philippi.

  

Philippi serial killer Jimmy Maketta smiles as he arrives at court in Wynberg, Cape Town. Photo: Brenton Geach, Cape Argus