Moses Sithole

While police were still trying to defend the death of another serial killer, David Selepe, by stating that there was evidence linking him to at least six of the bodies found in Cleveland during 1994, about 40 miles away young black women were being found strangled and probably raped in Atteridgeville, just west of Pretoria.

The first body was found on Jan. 4, 1995, half nude in a field. She was severely decomposed and was never identified.

A second body was found on Feb. 9. She was completely naked, but her clothes had been placed on top of her chest and weighted down with rocks. Her fingerprints were later used to confirm her identity as 27-year-old Beauty Nuku Soko. She had gone missing in Jan., on her way to her sister in Klipgat.

On the morning of March 6, construction workers digging a ditch in Atteridgeville arrived to find a womans breasts protruding from the soil. They uncovered the body of Sara Matlakala Mokono. She was 25, and had disappeared three days earlier, on her way to meet someone who had promised her work.

On April 12, another body was discovered in Atteridgeville. This womans hands had been tied behind her back with a bra. She had been strangled with a ligature. Although her clothes were recovered in the surrounding area, her panties were gone. She was later identified as Letta Nomthandazo Ndlangamandla, age 25.

On April 17, Beeld carried the story of the four bodies found, and concluded that the modus operandi was similar to the one used by the Cleveland serial killer, believed to have been David Selepe. On April 19, police admitted the possibility of a new serial killer, operating in the Atteridgeville area. They suspected a copycat of the Cleveland killer.