Saturday, March 17, 2007
One Murder Too Many - Newsweek
David Rattray died in one of the senseless killings that have become all too common in crime-ravaged South Africa. Will his killing be a turning point in the nation’s fight against violence?
Even in crime-ravaged South Africa, the killing has shocked the nation. The 48-year-old Rattray died on Jan. 26, when six robbers slipped onto his game preserve, Fugitives’ Drift. The men came from the poor Zulu communities that eke out their survival on hardscrabble farms in this rural part of KwaZulu-Natal province. They accosted workers at the lodge, where tourists stay during battlefield forays, then forced one of the workers to take them to Rattray’s home. Rattray’s wife, Nicky, screamed when she saw one of the intruders heading for their bedroom; Rattray pushed her out of the way and moved toward the gunman, who fired three shots. Two hit the historian in the arm and hand, but a third fatal bullet hit him in the chest. The robbers fled empty-handed. Initial reports speculated that the attack may have been part of a possible vendetta over a land dispute between Rattray and local farmers, but a confession by one of the attackers subsequently arrested by police suggests that burglary was the gang’s real motive. ...
David Rattray died in one of the senseless killings that have become all too common in crime-ravaged South Africa. Will his killing be a turning point in the nation’s fight against violence?
Even in crime-ravaged South Africa, the killing has shocked the nation. The 48-year-old Rattray died on Jan. 26, when six robbers slipped onto his game preserve, Fugitives’ Drift. The men came from the poor Zulu communities that eke out their survival on hardscrabble farms in this rural part of KwaZulu-Natal province. They accosted workers at the lodge, where tourists stay during battlefield forays, then forced one of the workers to take them to Rattray’s home. Rattray’s wife, Nicky, screamed when she saw one of the intruders heading for their bedroom; Rattray pushed her out of the way and moved toward the gunman, who fired three shots. Two hit the historian in the arm and hand, but a third fatal bullet hit him in the chest. The robbers fled empty-handed. Initial reports speculated that the attack may have been part of a possible vendetta over a land dispute between Rattray and local farmers, but a confession by one of the attackers subsequently arrested by police suggests that burglary was the gang’s real motive. ...
Labels: murder
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