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Sipho Agmatir
THWALA
A.K.A.: "The Phoenix Strangler" - "Canefield Killer"
Classification:
Serial killer
Characteristics:
Rape - Promise of employment as domestic
servants in hotels
Number of victims: 16 +
Date of murders:1996 - 1997
Date
of arrest:
August 14,
1997
Date of birth: 1968
Victims profile: Women
aged between 20 and 30 years
Method of murder: Strangulation
with their underwear
Location: Phoenix, KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa
Status: Sentenced to 506 years in prison
on March 29, 1999
The killer apparently lured his victims to the sugarcane
fields fields of Mount Edgecombe, near Phoenix. On March 31, 1999, a
Dunbar judge found him guilty of 16 slayings, one charge of attempted
murder, seven of indecent assault and three of rape. He raped then
strangled his victims with their underwear before burying them in
shallow graves.
Sipho Mandla Agmatir Thwala (born
1968) is a South African rapist and serial killer who
was convicted in 1999 for the murders of 16 women and 10
rapes and was sentenced to 506 years in prison. Thwala
was known by the moniker "The Phoenix Strangler".
Thwala, born and raised in KwaMashu,
began his year-long rape and murder spree in 1996 in
KwaZulu-Natal province. His modus operandi was to lure
local women into accompanying him through sugarcane
fields of Mount Edgecombe near the town of Phoenix,
South Africa with the promise of employment as domestic
servants in hotels.
Once the couple were deep within the
cane fields, Thwala would attack the women, bind them
with their own undergarmets, rape, strangle and bludgeon
them. Afterwards, he would set fire to the cane fields
in hopes of destroying any physical evidence of his
attack.
Sipho Thwala was arrested in 1997
after South African police matched DNA found on the
victims to DNA taken from Thwala in 1994 when he was
arrested and acquitted of a rape.
On March 31, 1999, the Durban, South
Africa High Court found Sipho Thwala guilty of 16
murders and 10 rapes, and sentenced to 506 years in
prison.
Sipho Agmatir Thwala (19)
South Africa's alleged "Phoenix Strangler," Sipho
Agmatir Thwala, is suspected of raping and strangling 19 victims with
their underwear before burying them in shallow graves. On March 31,
1999, the Durban High Court found Thwala guilty of only 16 murders and
10 rapes, and he was sentenced to 506 years in prison.
Thwala, 31, of KwaMashu, became the most wanted man
in KwaZulu-Natal province, located in eastern South Africa along the
Indian Ocean during an alleged year-long reign of terror. At the time of
his murderous spree - between 1996 and 1997 - the Phoenix and KwaMashu
communities were gripped with terror, not knowing who would be next or
when he would strike again.
Thwala, who was acquitted of rape and murder in 1994,
was arrested for the serial killings at his Besters squatter camp home
in a pre-dawn swoop by police in August 1997. His arrest came days after
DNA samples taken from the suspect, who was released on the rape and
murder charges in 1994, matched those taken from several crime scenes.
The killer apparently lured his victims to the
sugarcane fields fields of Mount Edgecombe, near Phoenix, by offering
them employment. Thwala fitted the profile compiled by police forensic
psychologist Micky Pistorius, who described him as "intelligent and
charming to women, but extremely dangerous". Thwala speaks English,
Afrikaans and Zulu and grew up as a labourer in the cane fields where he
sold cane to local residents.
His mother, Khathazile Ntanzi, described Twala as an
intelligent man who could read and write even though he never received
schooling beyond Grade 1. "He was a normal child, a gentleman and
helpful around the house. He also bought us groceries when he had money.
We are relieved he has been sent to jail. Who knows? He may have turned
against us one day," said his sister, Zibekile.
On March 31, 1999, a Dunbar judge sentenced Twala to
506 years in prison after he was found guilty of 16 slayings and other
charges. Twala, 31, showed no remorse for his crimes. He was also found
guilty of one charge of attempted murder, seven of indecent assault and
three of rape.
Shortly before his sentencing, a rumour spread around
Inanda that Thwala had been seen at his family's home. An angry mob
converged on the house, setting it alight after locking his mother,
Khathazile 65, and his sister Zibekile, 41, inside as they prepared to
go to church. A neighbour came to their rescue, dragging them from the
blazing dwelling. Fearing for their lives, the family fled to the police
station with Zibekile's six-month-old son, Mthandeni, and her daughters
Fikile, 2, Ntombizakhona, 7, and Phumelele, 8.
Both Thwala's mother and sister said that they
believed he "got what was coming to him" when Judge Vivienne Niles-Duner
imposed the 506-year sentence on him. At the time of his reign of
terror, neither Thwala's mother nor his sister suspected that he was the
killer. "He never changed his behaviour. He would even occasionally
condemn the killings and said he hoped the killer would be caught soon,"
said his mother.
Mayhem.net
The Phoenix Strangler
DiscoveryChannel.co.uk
Sipho Agmatir Thwala was South Africa's Phoenix Strangler. Although
he only operated for the relatively short period of a year from 1996 to
1997 he was to make it a terrifying year for KwaZulu-Natal province and
rapidly became the most wanted man in the region.
His MO was straightforward – he would lure women
to sugar cane fields with the promise of work before raping and
strangling them with their own underwear, then bury them in shallow
graves.
Thwala appeared normal around his family and was
above average intelligence. A police profile described him as "intelligent
and charming to women, but extremely dangerous".
He was arrested in 1997 after police matched DNA
found on the victims to DNA taken from Thwala several years earlier when
he was arrested for rape, though he was later acquitted of those charges.
On 31 March 1999, Thwala was found guilty of 16
murders and 10 rapes, and sentenced to 506 years in prison. In testament
to the strength of local feeling about the murders, Thwala’s house was
burned down by an angry mob who had received a false tip-off that he was
there. His mother and sister were locked inside at the time and only
just managed to escape with the help of a friend.
Trial To Start For South African SK
Grisly details to emerge in Phoenix Strangler case
Accused faces 16 counts of murder and 17 counts of rape
RONNIE GOVENDER
The trial of South Africa's alleged can field serial killer, who raped
and strangled 19 victims with their underwear before burying them in
shallow graves, is set to get under way in the Durban High Court next
week.
Dubbed the "Phoenix Strangler", Sipho Agmatir Thwala, 31, of
KwaMashu, became the most wanted man in KwaZulu-Natal during an alleged
year-long reign of terror in the rolling sugar cane fields of Mount
Edgecombe, near Phoenix.
The trial, expected to run for more than a month, will see more than 100
witnesses testifying. One key witness however, Thandi Conelia Majola,
30, who came face to face with the killer, has disappeared.
She is being sought by Superintendent Philip Veldhuizen, of the Durban
police's murder and robbery unit, after moving house without leaving a
forwarding address.
Majola, a dressmaker from the informal Bhambai settlement outside
KwaMashu, was allegedly attacked by Thwala on March 15, 1996, while she
was walking on the North Coast Road.
He allegedly promised her employment, as he did with most of his victims,
and asked her to accompany him.
But, while walking near a sugar cane plantation, he allegedly forced her
into the field and tried to throttle her.
She managed to escape after "reasoning" with him, according to
investigators.
Thwala, who was acquitted of rape and murder in 1994, was arrested for
the serial killings at his Besters squatter camp home in a pre-dawn
swoop by police in August 1997 .
His arrest came days after DNA samples taken from the suspect, who was
released on the rape and murder charges in 1994, matched those taken
from crime scenes of the serial killer.
Thwala is facing 16 counts of murder, 17 counts of rape and one count of
attempted murder after being found mentally fit to stand.
The killer apparently lured his victims into the killing fields by
offering them employment.
Thwala fitted the profile compiled by police forensic psychologist Micky
Pistorius, who described him as "intelligent and charming to women,
but extremely dangerous".
"The main reason a person becomes a serial killer lies within the
individual himself," Dr Pistorius said shortly before Thwala's
arrest.
"He generally has a fixation during his early childhood years. The
worrying thing is that he will kill until he gets caught," she said.
Nine of the serial killer's victims have yet to be identified.
Thwala speaks English, Afrikaans and Zulu and grew up as a labourer in
the cane fields where he sold cane to local residents.
Sipho Agmatir Thwala
February 29, 1999
The trial of South Africa's alleged "Phoenix
Strangler", who is suspected of raping and strangling 19 victims
with their underwear before burying them in shallow graves, is set to
get under way in the Durban High Court. Sipho Agmatir Thwala, 31, of
KwaMashu, became the most wanted man in the KwaZulu-Natal region during
an alleged year-long reign of terror around the sugar cane fields of
Mount Edgecombe, near Phoenix.
Sipho
Agmatir Twala
March 31, 1999
A Dunbar judge sentenced
convicted serial killer Sipho Agmatir Twala to 506 years in prison after
he was found guilty of 16 slayings and other charges. Twala, 31, showed
no remorse for his crimes. He was also found guilty of one charge of
attempted murder, seven of indecent assault and three of rape.
Serial killer gets 506 years
March 31, 1999
PHOENIX serial killer Sipho Agmatir Twala (31) was
sentenced on Wednesday to 506 years in prison after he was found guilty
on 27 charges of murder, attempted murder, indecent assault and rape.
Twala was found guilty on 16 murder charges, one of attempted murder,
seven of indecent assault and three of rape. In handing down sentence
Judge Vivienne Niles-Duner said it was evident Twala had shown no
remorse for his actions. Judge Niles-Duner said photographs of victims
and evidence led during the trial showed that the attacks were brutal
and the lengthy sentence will prevent parole.
Sipho
Agmatir Thwala
April 10, 1999
Six relatives
of South Africa's Phoenix serial killer are living in fear at a police
station after members of their community burnt down their house and
threatened to kill them. The mother, sister, three nieces and nephew of
serial killer Sipho Agmatir Thwala said they are too scared to venture
out of KwaMashu police station in Durban, where they have been holed up
for the last two weeks.
