CREDIT: Lerato Mbangeni – The Star
Johannesburg – When Odette Barkhuizen was murdered in June, police thought it was a hijacking, but now investigations have revealed she was the target of a calculated murder plot.
And after weeks of private detective and police investigations, sources close to the case have revealed her husband has been named as a suspect in the murder.
On June 11, the 43-year-old mother-of-two was shot in the head and the chest when she stepped out of her car on a routine trip to her Oakdene, Joburg, office, where she worked with her husband.
The hooded man who killed her then drove off in her Kia SUV, which was found two streets away the next day.
Even though heâs considered a suspect by investigators, George, Barkhuizenâs estranged husband, has been conducting his own probe into the brutal killing.
The two were sleeping in separate bedrooms and Barkhuizen had asked for a divorce a month before her death. But George has told The Star that he has struggled to accept her death.
âIt has been tough. The police arenât willing to share anything with me. I have absolutely no idea how the case is going.â
But this hasnât stopped George from finding his own facts.
âThey frowned on my idea to do my own investigation, but I hired a private investigator who has been updating me every fortnight. Iâm meeting them next week again, but I canât reveal what information I have.
âThe police need to do what they do. I just hope the people who did this are found.â
George said he and his private investigator managed to track Barkhuizenâs stolen cellphone to a pawnshop just a day after she died.
âI canât say where the pawnshop is, but we didnât block the phone or blacklist it because we wanted to track it.â
George and Barkhuizenâs home in Glenvista was searched two weeks ago by the police.
Melissa Naidu, who is part of Paul OâSullivan and Associates, a private investigation firm, took on the case pro bono and has since been working with the police to find out why Barkhuizen was killed.
Naidu said they knew the killerâs identity.
âI am 100 percent confident as to the identity of the person who murdered Odette Barkhuizen, but I believe it would be inappropriate at this point to name the person.
âWe are indeed working with the police and I have every confidence in the professionalism and dedication of the officers we are working with. For this reason, I am certain that justice will not only be done, but will be seen to be done, and Odetteâs murderer will be brought to book.â
On Saturday, police, together with the Oakdene Community Police Forum, Naidu and Barkhuizenâs family searched the bushes near where Barkhuizen was shot, looking for any evidence.
âWe found what may be evidence but weâre waiting for a report from forensics,â said Naidu, who refused to say what was found during the search.
A source close to the investigation said the police were close to making an arrest.