00:00:09
[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
00:00:17
time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
00:00:23
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website winding around south africa's eastern
00:00:36
cape coastline is marine drive a road that leads to some of the most popular beaches in caberha
00:00:43
known in the 1990s as port elizabeth west of the city marine drive extends into the rural outskirts where buildings
00:00:52
are scarce on one side of the road is the ocean on the other his low sprawling bushland
00:01:01
at 2 30 a.m on sunday december 18 1994 two cars abruptly stopped along this dark and lonely stretch of marine drive
00:01:11
one vehicle in front of the other each driver had slammed on their respective brakes before their
00:01:18
passengers scrambled out to observe what lay before them illuminated by the car's high beams was
00:01:26
a woman covered in dirt and dust lying face down in the middle of the road she was completely naked except for a
00:01:34
denim shirt that was bunched around her stomach a large pool of blood had formed beneath
00:01:40
her head the cause of which soon became clear her neck had been slashed from ear to
00:01:48
ear [Music] just over an hour and a half earlier a yellow renault had pulled into a free
00:02:20
parking space on deer street in caberga's central neighborhood inside the renault was a 27 year old
00:02:27
woman with long dark hair she lived in an apartment a short distance away but as her usual parking
00:02:34
spot right out the front of her building wasn't available she was forced to drive
00:02:39
further on to find another the street was dark and quiet as she turned off her car's engine and
00:02:46
headlights before reaching over to the passenger seat to scoop up a pile of clean laundry
00:02:52
all of a sudden the driver's side door swung open a man leaned into the car and held a
00:02:59
long thin knife to the woman's throat he was in his mid-20s and was skinny and tall with long hair
00:03:09
in a hushed voice he said move over or i'll kill you the woman did as ordered sliding across
00:03:18
to the passenger seat with the laundry bundled in her arms the knife-wielding man followed behind
00:03:26
climbing into the driver's seat and turning the key in the ignition to start up the car
00:03:32
don't worry i don't want to hurt you i just want to use your car for an hour he told the terrified woman
00:03:40
then he asked what's your name susan the woman answered the man gave his own name in response
00:03:51
clinton susan asked to be released explaining that her boyfriend was waiting for her
00:03:58
at home and telling clinton he could take the car without her no clinton replied
00:04:06
i want company i have to find this friend of mine who stole my tv and he owes me money
00:04:14
they drove in silence for several minutes towards main street where the city was still abuzz with nightlife
00:04:22
clinton pulled up near a nightclub named club tonight patrons were spilling out onto the
00:04:28
street where cabs were lined up ready to take them home as clinton stared at the crowd he grew
00:04:35
increasingly irritated eventually he pulled away he proceeded to drive up and down main
00:04:44
street and several other side roads until he finally spotted a man clinton brought the renault to a stop
00:04:52
and the man walked over and clambered into the vehicle's back seat meet my friend susan clinton said before
00:05:00
introducing the man he'd picked up this is tions clinton headed south towards summerstrand an area home to a stretch
00:05:15
of beaches popular with locals and tourists alike all three of the car's occupants sat in
00:05:22
silence as he drove slowly soon they were at the city's outer limits in a seaside town called
00:05:30
northhook the last of the buildings and streetlights gave way to a dark road bordered by trees and shrubs
00:05:39
clinton kept driving until they reached a sizable clearing in the foliage he drove off the road through the
00:05:46
clearing onto some sand that led to the beach clinton kept maneuvering the car until
00:05:53
they were on more solid ground at a site where campfires had previously been burned and rubbish was left scattered
00:06:00
about there were beer cans empty wine cartons and smashed bottles everywhere clinton parked the car then asked susan
00:06:11
how to turn off its lights she switched them off while tianz got out of the back seat to take a walk
00:06:18
around outside as susan and clinton sat alone in the renault she asked him now what
00:06:29
clinton turned to face her and said i thought you would have realised we want sex
00:06:37
susan said she hadn't and clinton asked if she was going to put up a fight susan paused
00:06:45
then replied no after raping susan clinton called tions back to the car then tians raped susan as well
00:06:56
[Music] afterwards clinton remarked if we take you into town now you are going to go to
00:07:05
the police susan insisted that she wouldn't but clinton said he didn't believe her
00:07:13
he forced susan to remove some rings she was wearing and tiens promptly slid them
00:07:18
onto his own fingers the two men then taunted susan telling her that they would leave her in the
00:07:25
isolated area naked and alone one asked what do you think old nick would want us
00:07:33
to do with her the other replied i think he wants us to kill her in a swift movement clinton leapt on top
00:07:44
of susan and began to strangle her [Music] when she begged him not to kill her clinton said sorry while continuing to
00:07:53
choke her [Music] susan lost consciousness and the two men dragged her body from the vehicle onto
00:08:01
the ground below tions asked clinton if she was dead let's find out he replied he began to repeatedly stab susan's
00:08:14
abdomen with the knife he'd threatened her with earlier until part of her small intestine was protruding from the wound
00:08:23
susan let out a slight rasping sound and tians sprang into action using a larger
00:08:28
knife he was carrying to slash at her neck clinton soon pushed his accomplice aside
00:08:35
and took over cutting and slashing at susan's throat over and over until her head was almost severed from her neck
00:08:45
the two men then rummaged through susan's laundry and other personal belongings looking for anything of value
00:08:52
finding little they cared for they tossed most of it over her body then they got into her renault and drove
00:08:59
away the attack marked a murderous shift in an already violent spree that was being
00:09:10
committed by the northwark ripper rapists ten months earlier in february of 1994 a
00:09:18
20-year-old student was sitting in a car observing a pizzeria in caberha's central neighborhood
00:09:25
rachel not her real name had borrowed the car from her mother to drive to the takeaway restaurant as she had a job to
00:09:33
do she worked part-time for another local pizzeria and her employers had tasked her with spying on the rival restaurant
00:09:42
to see how many customers went in and the amount of pizzas they ordered they wanted to know what their
00:09:49
competition's trade was like rachel took out a pen and paper to make a note each time somebody walked inside
00:09:58
she hadn't been there long when a man appeared by the driver's side window he was white skinny and rather tall with
00:10:07
light blonde hair and a thin face in one hand he held a pistol the man yanked open the car door and
00:10:17
demanded rachel move over to the passenger seat terrified she did as she was told
00:10:25
the man took her place behind the wheel and began to drive he took rachel out of the city heading
00:10:32
south and then west along the coastline after about 20 minutes when they reached
00:10:38
the town of northhook the man stopped and parked the car he sexually assaulted rachel then raped
00:10:46
her afterwards he drove her to a nearby roadhouse where he bought her a sandwich
00:10:53
and a rose the men chatted to rachel in an intimate manner as though they were romantically
00:11:00
involved then he raped her again the ordeal lasted about three hours after which the man drove rachel back to
00:11:10
the city as he exited the car he told her that she was an amazing person he hoped she would let him quote
00:11:20
make it up to her sometime then he disappeared into the night rachel managed to get herself back
00:11:29
home but was too scared and traumatized to tell her parents what had happened it would take her a week before she was
00:11:37
able to speak of the abduction and rapes to a friend who encouraged her to go to
00:11:42
the police it didn't take long for investigators to track down rachel's alleged rapist
00:11:52
franz du toi was a truck driver and married father of one with another baby on the way
00:11:58
at 26 years old he had a troubled past and this wasn't his first brush with the law
00:12:06
although rachel was able to identify du toi as her assailant after seeing his mug shot by the time she came forward it
00:12:13
was too late to put together a rape kit dutoy was still charged but because there was no forensic evidence available
00:12:23
and he had a steady job as well as a fixed address where he lived with his wife the laws of the time dictated that
00:12:30
he must be released on bail months later franz du toi struck again on the evening of sunday december 4 1994
00:12:43
21 year old caroline not her real name headed out to go to a corner store when dutoy suddenly appeared out of nowhere
00:12:53
but this time he wasn't alone with him was his neighbour and friend nineteen-year-old tian's kruger
00:13:02
tu toy and kruger threatened caroline with a handgun before abducting and raping her
00:13:09
they taunted the young woman saying they would kill her and to leave her body naked and abandoned
00:13:16
caroline who was pregnant and in her first trimester begged them to let her live and they eventually took off into
00:13:23
the night caroline quickly reported the attack to police franz du toi and tian's kruger were
00:13:33
promptly found and arrested the two seemed entirely unfazed by the charges against them
00:13:40
kruger considered the entire thing to be a big joke and even burst out laughing multiple times throughout the booking
00:13:48
process he and dutoyi both appeared in the magistrates court the following morning
00:13:56
it was so early in the investigation that a specific officer hadn't been assigned to handle the case yet
00:14:04
even though this second attack took place in the same area where dutoy had abducted rachel the two had been
00:14:10
arrested by a different squad and taken to another police station due to this the prosecutor who stood in
00:14:18
the courtroom that day had no idea that dutoy was already out on bail for a previous violent rape
00:14:27
this oversight meant that once again franz du toi was granted bail and so was his younger accomplice
00:14:40
almost two weeks later on saturday december 17 dutoy and kruger were stalking their previous hunting ground
00:14:48
of central in search of another victim both men were buzzing after spending the afternoon getting through nine bottles
00:14:56
of beer and a two and a half litre bottle of sherry by the afternoon their thoughts had
00:15:03
turned once again to finding a woman to harm specifically they sought a victim who
00:15:09
was driving a nice car so they could steal it afterwards at around 12 30 pm they spotted a woman
00:15:18
who was in the process of parking her car the two men approached the vehicle and
00:15:24
dutoy attempted to pull open the driver's side door but he glanced away for a split second
00:15:30
and the woman quickly managed to lock herself in after realizing they wouldn't be able to
00:15:37
abduct her dutoy and kruger ran from the scene for hours they paced the city on the
00:15:44
lookout for another target when they couldn't find any krueger grew impatient and annoyed
00:15:51
he told dutoy that he was going to head to a nightclub if dutoy managed to capture a suitable
00:15:58
woman he should come and find him later [Music] undeterred dutoy continued walking the
00:16:06
streets his eyes peeled for a woman alone in a vehicle at around 1am he headed along deer
00:16:14
street a quiet side road that ran through central and was dotted with apartment buildings
00:16:21
suddenly he spotted a small yellow renault pulling into a free parking space dutoy recognized the young woman driving
00:16:31
he didn't know her name but he had seen her many times before as he stalked the neighborhood parking that same car and
00:16:39
walking into a nearby apartment her vehicle was old and not what he'd been hoping for
00:16:47
du toi wanted to drive his victim back to nordhouk the same isolated location where he'd attacked rachel earlier in
00:16:55
the year nortok was a fair distance out of the city and the renault looked as though it
00:17:01
could break down at any moment still dutoy decided to strike he made his way over to the renault
00:17:12
through the darkness the street lamps were easy enough to avoid and numerous parked cars along the
00:17:18
street provided cover duty reached the renault's driver's side door just as the woman cut the engine
00:17:26
and turned off the car's lights duty yanked open the driver's side door this time he was carrying a knife
00:17:37
forcing his captive to slide over into the passenger seat tu toi got behind the wheel and drove off
00:17:45
he introduced himself using the fake name clinton and she said her name was susan
00:17:53
dutoy headed to the nightclub that tian's kruger had intended to visit and eventually found him on a side street
00:18:02
susan was driven out into the rural outskirts where both dutoy and kruger raped her
00:18:09
afterwards the pair emboldened each other to take the next step in their violent spree
00:18:15
they took turns stabbing susan before cutting her throat multiple times to the point of near decapitation
00:18:24
they drove back to the city in susan's renault neither spoke throughout the entire
00:18:30
journey and dutoy threw his knife into some bushes kruger kept his knife they abandoned the renault around the
00:18:41
corner from duty's apartment then headed home to drink more beer and get some sleep
00:18:53
the toy and kruger woke at around 11am excited by the thought that they'd committed murder
00:19:00
they wanted to claim another victim soon but this time they would carry out their
00:19:05
plot slightly differently they would abduct and kill a woman then throw her body off a bridge that dutoy
00:19:13
was familiar with the pair chatted as they prepared their breakfast kruger used the same knife he had cut
00:19:22
susan's throat with to butter his bread some of susan's blood was still visible on the blade which kruger pointed out
00:19:30
gleefully yet their plans were interrupted the following day at around five am there
00:19:40
was a loud pounding on the front door of duty's apartment he and kruger were both inside sleeping
00:19:49
when they answered the knocking they saw two police officers standing outside the officers made no mention of susan or
00:19:58
her murder instead telling the pair they wanted to question them about a recent rape
00:20:05
a confident dutoy and kruger went without struggle duty and kruger were placed into
00:20:14
separate holding cells at the police headquarters and some time later melvin humpel a senior investigating officer
00:20:21
arrived to interview them he decided to speak with tian's kruger first and escorted the younger suspect
00:20:30
to his office humple asked kruger to take a seat he appeared completely disinterested
00:20:39
when the officer read him his rights then humple informed kruger that he was being investigated on two different
00:20:48
charges one of rape and one of attempted murder surprised kruger glanced up at the
00:20:57
officer as he processed what he was saying and asked attempted murder why attempted murder
00:21:08
i have news for you melvin humple replied your last victim survived she's talking
00:21:16
and remembers everything [Music] case file will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening to this
00:21:36
episode sponsors if you run an ecommerce business you probably feel it's about time people
00:21:43
stopped treating e-commerce giants better just because they're bigger and you're absolutely right
00:21:51
that's why shipstation gives e-commerce sellers of all sizes access to the same deeply discounted rates usually reserved
00:21:59
for fortune 500 companies terrified of dealing with international shipping don't be
00:22:06
ship station makes it a breeze to ship anywhere around the world so scale away shipstation can handle it and now
00:22:15
shipstation is available in the uk australia and canada case file team member paulina has just
00:22:22
signed up to shipstation for her shopify store and already can't imagine life without it
00:22:29
it was so easy to get started and she loves how everything she needs is in one simple interface
00:22:35
she's also saving money on shipping which means she can put extra towards the fun things in life
00:22:42
don't let the big guys keep all the good discounts to themselves sign up using promo code case file for a
00:22:49
free 60-day trial at shipstation.com and start saving with every shipment that's two whole months of discounted
00:22:58
shipping absolutely free just go to shipstation.com click on the microphone at the top of
00:23:05
the page and type in case file ship station make ship happen case file is sponsored by better help
00:23:17
life can be overwhelming and many people are burned out without even knowing it symptoms can include lack of motivation
00:23:24
feeling helpless or trapped detachment fatigue and more we associate burnout with work but
00:23:32
that's not the only cause any of our roles in life can lead us to feel burned out and a better help online
00:23:40
therapy wants to remind you to prioritize yourself talking with someone can help you figure
00:23:46
out what's causing stress in your life as our listeners would know the casewell team have been using betterhelp for a
00:23:54
while now it's the ease and availability of knowledgeable therapists that is what
00:23:59
makes betterhelp invaluable if you need someone to chat with about the daily stresses of life or if you're
00:24:06
experiencing burnout betterhelp is ready to help betterhelp is customized online therapy
00:24:13
that offers video phone and even live chat sessions with your therapist so you don't have to see anyone on camera if
00:24:20
you don't want to it's much more affordable than in person therapy and you can be matched with a
00:24:26
therapist in under 48 hours case file listeners get 10 off their first month at betterhelp.com
00:24:35
case file that's b e t t e r h e l p dot com slash case file thank you for listening to this
00:24:47
episode's ads by supporting our sponsors you support case file to continue to deliver quality content
00:25:03
at around 2 30 a.m on sunday december 18 tian eilard drove his combivan along marine drive following behind his
00:25:12
friend's bmw the two carloads of france had just wrapped up a beach holiday with a visit
00:25:19
to a nightclub and were heading back to the caravan park where they were camping
00:25:25
suddenly tian's friend up ahead hit the brakes and came to a stop then he flicked on his car's hazard
00:25:33
lights as tian slowed behind him he wondered what had caused his friend to stop in
00:25:40
the middle of the road perhaps there was an injured pedestrian or animal up ahead
00:25:47
some of tian's friends in the bmw got out and looked at something on the road in front of their car
00:25:55
one of them began screaming in terror and ran over to tian's vehicle she told him that someone was hurt on
00:26:03
the ground and tayan needed to help as a veterinary science student tian had some knowledge of anatomy and medicine
00:26:14
he jumped out and ran over to the spot his friend indicated the bmw's headlights had cast a
00:26:21
spotlight on a disheveled woman lying on the road naked except for a denim shirt
00:26:27
pressed to her abdomen her head was facing away from them and blood had pulled beneath it
00:26:35
tian could hear the woman breathing in heavy gasps tian knelt beside the woman and took her
00:26:43
hand it wasn't until he was facing her that he saw the huge wound around the base of
00:26:49
her neck near the bone it was so deep and so wide that tian could see the muscles and veins inside
00:27:00
tian made eye contact with the woman who looked terrified he spoke to her in soothing
00:27:07
tones as he checked her pulse and removed his shirt then used it to apply gentle pressure to her neck wound
00:27:16
her thyroid had also been cut in two and part of it was sticking out tian tucked it back inside the wound to
00:27:25
keep it moist the entire time he chatted with the woman encouraging her to stay conscious
00:27:32
asking her what had happened and reassuring her that help was on the way she was unable to speak so she
00:27:40
communicated with tian by squeezing his hand even though it was 1994 one of tian's
00:27:49
friends had a mobile phone and was able to call for an ambulance it took more than two hours for it to
00:27:57
finally arrive doctors and nurses at the hospital were alarmed to see the state that the woman
00:28:06
was in she had received more than 30 stab wounds to the abdomen and her throat was
00:28:12
slashed 17 times all of the main veins in her neck had been cut along with the trachea thyroid
00:28:21
and anterior muscles but she had survived because her attackers missed her main arteries
00:28:29
her aorta and larynx were also undamaged which was how she was still able to breathe
00:28:36
extreme blood loss had put her in a state of shock that prevented her from feeling any pain
00:28:43
despite her life-threatening injuries she remained conscious and was even able to sign an intake form
00:28:51
her name was alison and she was 27 years old alison even managed to write down her
00:28:58
mother's phone number so she could be contacted a doctor performed emergency surgery
00:29:06
reconnecting alison's muscles and stitching her neck back together the wound to her abdomen had resulted in
00:29:14
her entire small intestine becoming exposed this organ had to be carefully and meticulously cleaned in saline solution
00:29:24
as dirt leaves and sand that had collected on it could cause infection the doctor then stitched up cuts that
00:29:32
the organ had received before putting it back inside alison and closing up her second wound
00:29:40
by 8 35 am on sunday december 18 seven and a half hours after alison was abducted her surgery was complete
00:29:55
the fact that alison had survived her devastating injuries amazed hospital staff and law enforcement
00:30:02
but her incredible story of survival was shocking alison told police of her abduction at
00:30:10
knifepoint as she sat in her car a short distance away from her apartment she briefly considered opening the door
00:30:18
and leaping out but felt frozen in place her abductor introduced himself as clinton
00:30:27
not wanting to tell him her real name alison told him she was called susan she also said that she had a boyfriend
00:30:35
at home waiting for her but this was a lie she hoped would compel her abductor to release her
00:30:42
instead he drove her into the city and also picked up a younger man named tianz he seemed angrier and more
00:30:51
volatile than his older accomplice still alison was willing to believe the man just wanted the car
00:31:02
when clinton announced that the pair intended to rape alison she knew her best chance of survival lay in not
00:31:09
putting up a fight throughout the ordeal alison repeatedly told herself he's doing this to your body but not to
00:31:18
you he can't touch you at one stage tianz referred to clinton as franz which alison realized must be
00:31:28
his real name they also mentioned another person old nick but allison knew that was a
00:31:36
nickname for satan she made a mental note to remember her attackers names while simultaneously
00:31:43
reassuring them that she wouldn't go to the police franz and tianz didn't believe her
00:31:51
france launched himself on alison and began strangling her she begged him not to kill her and he
00:31:58
apologized but continued then everything went dark alison lost consciousness the next thing she knew she was lying on
00:32:11
the ground france stood over her his arm moving back and forth as he repeatedly cut her
00:32:18
neck alison felt nothing but could hear the sound of the knife meeting her skin eventually france stopped and walked
00:32:28
away alison could hear him talking in a low voice with his accomplice despite the violent attack she'd endured
00:32:39
alison felt extremely alert and aware of everything going on around her when she heard a strange grumbling noise
00:32:47
she soon realised it was coming from her own throat it was the sound of her breathing
00:32:54
through her wound unable to control her breath she stuck her hand inside the injury to muffle the
00:33:02
noise and prevent franz and tijuans from realizing she was still alive do you think she's dead one of the men
00:33:11
asked no one can survive that said the other confidently then they got into her car and drove
00:33:21
away convinced that she would die alison was determined to leave a final message
00:33:28
behind she used a finger to write the names france and tians in the sand beneath that she traced the words i love
00:33:39
mum alison then began to feel as though she were floating out of her own body and
00:33:46
hovering above it she could look down and see herself crumpled and bleeding on the ground but
00:33:52
she felt light and peaceful despite what had been done to her alison felt a soothing presence and knew she
00:34:00
was being asked a crucial question did she want to return to her body and fight realising there was still so much she
00:34:10
wanted to do with her life alison knew that she did a moment later she was back in her body
00:34:23
alison forced herself up onto her hands and knees feeling something wet and slippery on
00:34:30
her abdomen she looked down and realized that she had been stabbed there as well
00:34:36
some of her intestines had fallen out of the wound alison couldn't hold them in as they
00:34:43
kept slipping out of her arms so she found a denim shirt that her attackers had thrown on the ground
00:34:50
alison wrapped the shirt around her intestines and held it against her body slowly she began to crawl along the
00:34:59
ground towards the road they had driven in from alison still felt no pain her knees and hands suffered cuts from
00:35:09
the broken glass on the ground and her head felt wobbly and unstable due to the repeated cuts to her neck
00:35:18
after crawling about 15 meters into a clearing alison collapsed driven by the thought of how devastated
00:35:27
her loved ones would be if she died she forced herself to keep moving alison tried to stand realizing that
00:35:36
walking would be faster than crawling but when she did the gaping wound to her neck caused her head to tip backwards
00:35:45
until it nearly touched her shoulder blades with one hand still clutching the shirt
00:35:51
to her abdomen she used the other hand to pull her head forwards then she began walking
00:36:01
sometimes she tripped over but she would always force herself up again alison stumbled through the bush and
00:36:09
vegetation until she finally spotted marine drive the wide road they had driven in from
00:36:17
she found a spot in the middle of the road where she would be visible to any passing motorists and to lay down there
00:36:25
after a little while she heard a car approaching though she couldn't see it as her face was turned the other way
00:36:33
as it drew nearer to allison it slowed down to a stop its headlights shining brightly on her
00:36:41
alison waved urgently but no one got out of the vehicle after what felt like a long time the car
00:36:50
was put in to drive again and swerved around allison's body before continuing on and disappearing into the darkness
00:37:00
alison felt as though she had just lost her last chance of survival until tian eilard and his friends
00:37:08
happened upon her as they drove along marine drive towards the caravan park where they were staying
00:37:18
when news of the attack and alison's seemingly miraculous survival made newspaper headlines flowers and gifts
00:37:25
flooded in from all over south africa police sprang into action upon being notified of the rape and attempted
00:37:34
murder nadia swanepoel was a young officer familiar with franz du toi and tianz kruger and knew the two were out on bail
00:37:43
for raping another young woman just two weeks earlier suspecting that du toi and his younger
00:37:50
accomplice could be behind alison's attack officer swanepoel headed to the hospital on sunday december 18 armed
00:37:58
with a photo album full of mug shots she flicked through the pages showing alison hundreds of different photographs
00:38:06
of various suspects when officer swanepoel reached one particular page alison's eyes were
00:38:14
immediately drawn to a headshot near the bottom she recognised the man featured instantly
00:38:22
it was franz du toy the following morning at 5 00 am officer swanepoel and her partner arrested both
00:38:31
men at dutoy's apartment once dutoy and kruger were in custody senior investigating officer melvin
00:38:39
humple was called upon to interrogate them he decided to speak to nineteen-year-old
00:38:46
kruger first the two sat in melvin humpel's office kruger looked bored as the detective
00:38:56
read him his rights but his demeanor changed entirely when he heard that alison had survived and
00:39:03
remembered everything visibly terrified he said oh [ __ ] then it won't even help if i lie
00:39:14
kruger pulled some rings he was wearing off his fingers dropped them on the detective's desk and stated
00:39:21
there here are her rings then he began to talk tian's kruger's life had always been
00:39:35
difficult he was raised by his mother and his abusive stepfather in the town of sundrift
00:39:42
as a child kruger often ran away from his troubled home and sought solace in the town's black community which was
00:39:49
kind to him south africa was still under apartheid at the time and some of the local white
00:39:56
residents were angry at kruger for mixing with the black population he was ostracized by them as a result
00:40:05
kruger eventually left school to join the army he later said that in 1993 while completing his national service he was
00:40:13
called to deal with a riot krueger claimed that when a woman involved in the riots swore at the
00:40:20
police he'd responded by shooting her in the head in 1994 kruger began working as a
00:40:28
security guard and moved in with his aunt in caberha he said he was disappointed that he
00:40:35
hadn't died during his army service as one of his friends had and during a botched suicide attempt he accidentally
00:40:42
shot himself in the foot with a rifle it was while he was recovering from this injury that he met franz du toi
00:40:52
du toy's life was one with little direction or purpose like kruger he had served in the
00:40:58
military during his youth and spent a year and a half fighting on the country's border with namibia which was
00:41:04
then under south african administration after dutoy's service was up his father who was a policeman found him a job at a
00:41:14
mine duty only worked there briefly before moving on again by the 1990s dutoy was living a
00:41:23
transient lifestyle moving from city to city and working menial jobs he wound up in caberha where he married
00:41:32
his second wife in 1993 she was in the early stages of pregnancy when du toi abducted and raped rachel in
00:41:41
february of 1994. four months later dutoyi met tianz kruger when the teenager started
00:41:49
purchasing booze from an unlicensed venue to toy ran soon they were drinking together
00:41:56
regularly and bonding over common ground as kruger confided into toy about his struggles du toi offered his young
00:42:08
friend an alternative path he claimed that although he had been raised by parents who devoutly practiced
00:42:16
christianity he had discovered another faith during his adolescence it all started when he fell into a quote
00:42:25
bad crowd kids who he said were cannabis smoking hippies and surfers then duty started listening to heavy
00:42:34
metal music which he would later say held subliminal messages when he burnt down a building he blamed
00:42:42
his actions on the messages he'd absorbed through the music this incident led to detoi's expulsion
00:42:49
from school and he was soon enrolled in another one one day he was sitting on a train when
00:42:56
he met a young woman who also attended his new school supposedly she was the head witch of a
00:43:04
local coven and dutoy believed she had supernatural powers he insisted that he had witnessed her
00:43:12
channel demons and that as they spoke through her her voice changed from being feminine to one that was deep and
00:43:19
masculine du toi said he began to put faith in the supposed demons du toi introduced tian's kruger to his
00:43:30
beliefs telling him he was part of a notorious satanist group that met regularly under a nearby bridge
00:43:38
this bridge was infamous in kabehar as a place where people would go to take their own lives
00:43:45
when du toi told kruger about the power of demons kruger said that he would like
00:43:50
some of that power for himself duty then nicknamed his younger companion damien a nod to the antagonist
00:43:59
in the film the omen who is characterized as the son of satan the pair began heading out on midnight
00:44:07
trips to visit saint mary's cemetery the city's oldest graveyard they would steal statues from graves and
00:44:15
burn black candles often while drunk and high sometimes they were joined by others
00:44:23
on one occasion kruger was teased by the rest of the group who said he would never desecrate a grave
00:44:31
he responded by taking a hammer and smashing a headstone while swearing at the person who was buried below
00:44:40
kruger despised most other people he had no respect for anyone especially those who tried to quote
00:44:48
force religion down my throat he soared escape through drugs and alcohol and took to walking the streets
00:44:56
late at night as a way to calm down duty joined him one night in early december and the pair carried out their
00:45:04
first rape together kruger would later say that he felt nothing throughout this entire attack
00:45:13
duty initially intended to make good on his threat to murder the woman but he's urged to kill a baited after he raped
00:45:20
her two weeks later he wouldn't be as merciful towards alison tian's kruger gave a detailed confession
00:45:32
about the attack he and his accomplice had inflicted on alison when it was franz du tois turn to be
00:45:39
interviewed he was similarly stunned to learn that alison was alive that's impossible
00:45:46
she couldn't have survived he said a moment later he spoke in a calm voice well then i have to tell the whole truth
00:45:59
his confession confirmed everything that kruger had admitted to neither man showed any sign of remorse
00:46:12
they were charged for alison's rape and attempted murder this time they didn't receive bail
00:46:20
friends of allison's including her boss and some ex-boyfriends gathered at the magistrates court to be present for the
00:46:26
men's first appearance they shouted abuse as dutoy and kruger were led back to their cells and one
00:46:34
newspaper later reported that du toi had looked terrified during the altercation
00:46:41
the south african public was outraged by the horrific case the country's rate of sexual violence
00:46:48
ranked as one of the highest in the world but rarely did a victim's ordeal become so public
00:46:54
the brutal nature of alison's injuries and her survival against all the odds meant that her story made headlines
00:47:01
across the nation journalists rang alison and her mother constantly hoping for an
00:47:08
interview police discouraged alison from going public in case it compromised the
00:47:14
case but she was eager to speak out eventually once alison was well enough to return home she was permitted to give
00:47:23
one reporter from the eastern province herald a brief interview about her ongoing recovery
00:47:30
she also wrote an open letter that was published in the paper in it allison thanked everyone who had
00:47:37
helped her for their care and support quote each one who sent flowers gifts cards
00:47:45
wishes thoughts prayers and love should know how they brought a smile to my face
00:47:51
and an added warmth to my heart i have life beautiful people you have my heart alison's father also wrote a letter to
00:48:03
the editor of the eastern province herald which was published in full on the paper's front page
00:48:10
he was devastated by what had happened to his daughter and he openly criticized the country's bail laws that had allowed
00:48:17
two violent predators to walk free and attack further victims before the trial against france du toi
00:48:27
and tianz kruger could proceed to court allison was required to identify them both in person
00:48:35
because the city's small police station did not have a room with a one-way mirror alison was told she would have to
00:48:42
enter the room where the lineup was taking place and identify her attackers by placing her hand on their shoulders
00:48:51
the thought of having to do this terrified alison she refused to take part under those
00:48:57
guidelines and so a compromise was struck the lineup would take place in one of the station's smaller offices
00:49:05
which had a one-way petition allison would still have to stand in the same room as her attackers but she would
00:49:13
be partly hidden from them and wouldn't have to touch them on friday march 3 1995
00:49:22
almost three months after the attack alison made her way to the police station she immediately picked out duty and
00:49:31
kruger from a row of fourteen men although both men had agreed to plead guilty there would still be a trial with
00:49:42
extensive witness testimony to determine their sentences the men's police statements made their
00:49:50
way to the media and the fact that they blamed satanism for leading them to commit their crimes had already been
00:49:57
splashed across tabloid newspapers the press dubbed them the nautil gripper rapists after the isolated location
00:50:06
where they attacked allison and another victim one week before proceedings began france
00:50:13
du toi called a press conference at police headquarters despite still being held on remand
00:50:20
the conference was allowed to go forward and duty told attending journalists how
00:50:25
he was officially renouncing his satanic beliefs he blamed his criminal behavior on
00:50:32
demonic possession and said he would undergo an exorcism prior to the trial this announcement was treated as a
00:50:40
publicity stunt by most people including de toy's victims the trial began on monday june 12 1995.
00:50:52
the woman who the men had tried to abduct almost 12 hours before they took allison gave evidence as did all three
00:50:59
women who had been raped by them the second victim caroline had been in the early stages of pregnancy when she
00:51:07
was attacked on december 4 1994 and was almost at full term as she spoke in court
00:51:16
duty and kruger both testified in their own defense they told the court of their troubled
00:51:22
backgrounds and how they came to practice what they called satanism tu tui claimed that since he was 15 he'd
00:51:30
been possessed by a demon called incubus which made him irresistible to women he blamed incubus for the rapes he had
00:51:39
committed detoi's wife natalie was standing by her husband and attended court to support
00:51:46
him he attributed her loyalty to a spell he had cast asking that she would never
00:51:53
have the power to leave him in 1992 the south african police service had established an occult related crimes
00:52:04
unit due to the satanic panic that was then sweeping the country the satanic panic was a moral panic that
00:52:12
spread around the world during the late 20th century but was particularly influential in south africa where belief
00:52:19
in the occult was strong an officer from the occult related crimes unit spoke at the trial refuting
00:52:28
detoi's claims of demonic possession he said to toy's clear recollection of his crimes meant he was entirely in
00:52:36
control of his own actions the officer also claimed that if du toi had been possessed he would have raped
00:52:44
his wife as well but he hadn't while dutoy seemed to enjoy the limelight and his newfound notoriety
00:52:53
tian's kruger was quieter a clinical psychologist who had examined kruger determined that the 19 year old
00:53:02
had borderline personality disorder and suffered from extremely low self-esteem franz du toi and tian's kruger were
00:53:12
ultimately convicted of two counts of rape two charges of indecent assault two counts of abduction attempted murder and
00:53:20
theft during sentencing the judge dismissed dutoy's claims of demonic possession
00:53:28
and sentenced him to three terms of life imprisonment kruger was given one count of life
00:53:35
imprisonment for the crimes against allison plus 25 years for the second rape the judge made it clear that while
00:53:44
kruger may have been influenced by his older accomplice he still exhibited disturbing bloodlust
00:53:52
the judge concluded with one final decree quote i also make the following order it must be clear that if at any time in
00:54:03
the future there is any consideration for parole it was my intention that these two men be removed from society
00:54:10
for the rest of their natural lives and that they should spend it behind bars cheers echoed through the courtroom in
00:54:20
response to the judge's words as dutoy and kruger were being escorted out kruger slammed his hand
00:54:28
against the wall and shouted here we go [ __ ] you all with both men convicted and sentenced
00:54:40
alison was free to speak publicly about her ordeal she was eager to do so in the hopes that
00:54:47
her words might inspire other women who had been raped to come forward allison knew that many rape survivors
00:54:55
were left with a feeling of shame and wanted to make it clear that they had nothing to be ashamed of
00:55:03
alison gave an exclusive interview to a magazine titled you and also spoke on air with a local radio presenter
00:55:12
when the male presenter told her he felt honored to speak with a rape survivor as
00:55:17
he had never done so before alison responded you don't know that so many women are silent about it
00:55:26
[Music] at the same time that she was publicly advocating for survivors of rape alison
00:55:33
was also going through a grueling recovery even as her physical wounds began to heal she was left with significant
00:55:42
scarring that required reconstructive and plastic surgery too scared to return to the apartment
00:55:50
where she'd been living at the time of the attack alison moved to a new one in a more secure complex
00:55:57
she also struggled with focusing at work and soon sank into a deep depression [Music]
00:56:06
one day alison received an invitation to give a talk about her experiences at a rotary club
00:56:13
although public speaking made her nervous she decided to accept the offer to her surprise the talk went well
00:56:23
soon she was accepting more opportunities to speak at other events alison found that speaking publicly
00:56:30
about her attack helped her come to terms with it because she had to tell audiences what
00:56:37
she had learnt through it all she began to reflect more deeply on how she had survived
00:56:44
encouraged by the positive feedback she received from those who attended her talks alison eventually embarked on a
00:56:51
career as a motivational speaker she won multiple awards for her bravery and would wind up traveling all over the
00:56:59
world to share her story when she married she took her husband's surname of berta and became known by
00:57:08
this name in the media alison also worked with author marianne tam to write a book about her
00:57:15
experiences it was published in 1998 under the title i have life in 2011 new legislation came into force
00:57:29
in south africa which meant all prisoners who had been given life sentences prior to 2004 could apply for
00:57:37
parole providing they had already served at least thirteen years and four months
00:57:44
franz du toi and tianz kruger both fell under this category the two applied for parole
00:57:52
kruger appeared before his prison's parole board in december 2011 and was said to have boasted to fellow inmates
00:58:00
that he would soon be free dutoy had his hearing the following month authorities did not notify allison or
00:58:10
the pair's other victims of this development and they were left to learn about the man's possible release via the
00:58:16
media alison was devastated she believed that the judge's order at sentencing meant her attackers would
00:58:25
never be freed to her relief neither man was given parole but they were still permitted to
00:58:32
reapply for it every two years in august of 2015 alison who was now 47 years old received a strange email from
00:58:46
an american woman named joyce she was getting in touch with alison because she was worried about her
00:58:53
daughter sabrina who was 34. according to joyce sabrina was engaged to franz du toy now aged 46 and wanted
00:59:04
to travel to south africa to help him with his next parole application the pair had met via facebook and
00:59:12
communicated entirely online sabrina hadn't initially known that du toi was in prison
00:59:21
when he told her what he was serving time for dutoy admitted to being a rapist but claimed he had no part in
00:59:28
trying to kill alison that attack was entirely the fault of his accomplice tianz kruger
00:59:37
he also said that the prison authorities were pleased with his progress and believed he was a changed man
00:59:45
when sabrina's mother joyce found out about the relationship she contacted south africa's department of
00:59:51
correctional services but received no response so she decided to reach out to detoi's
00:59:59
soul-named victim alison werter joyce attached page after page of correspondence between sabrina and de
01:00:09
toy which she'd obtained from her daughter's facebook account in his writings to sabrina tutori
01:00:16
claimed that he'd organised for a woman to be raped after she accused him of killing her father
01:00:23
he'd also had another woman gang raped by some men he called his boys duty said he'd done all of this from
01:00:32
behind bars he made threats against people he wanted to harm when he was released and asked
01:00:39
sabrina for money tu toi also bragged about how he'd bribed prison officials into letting him
01:00:47
have access to mobile phones alison was horrified and couldn't believe du toi was being allowed access
01:00:56
to social media she emailed a complaint to prison authorities who in turn forwarded it to
01:01:04
detoi angered by the lack of regard being shown for her personal safety alison went to the media for help
01:01:14
despite articles being published in the magazine u and other publications du toi
01:01:20
was still allowed to maintain multiple facebook accounts when franz du toy heard that a south
01:01:29
african film director named ugga carlini was making a featured documentary about
01:01:34
the attack against allison and her survival he reached out and offered to be interviewed
01:01:41
but he made it clear that he had some conditions first he wanted a signed letter from
01:01:48
alison berta saying that she had forgiven him and second he demanded a backdated share of the prophets from
01:01:56
allison's motivational speaking career and book sales as he said she owed all of her success to his actions
01:02:06
olga carlini refused the toy's request her documentary titled alison was released in 2016.
01:02:17
alison buerta's life wasn't the only one changed by what happened to her on december 17 1994
01:02:26
tian eilard the man who helped save alison by providing first aid was so affected by the incident that he decided
01:02:34
to become a doctor instead of a vet he and alison have remained close throughout the years and in november
01:02:42
2006 when alison gave birth to her second child tian assisted with the delivery becoming a mother felt like a miracle to
01:02:52
alison she was worried that she would never be able to have children due to the injuries she sustained during the attack
01:03:00
but she now has two sons after alison berta's two attackers were convicted she was given a small
01:03:09
cardboard box filled with evidence that police had gathered from the crime scene
01:03:15
it contained her clothing and other personal belongings that had been dumped on the ground
01:03:22
for a long time allison kept the box at the back of a cupboard and refused to look inside
01:03:29
but a few years later while working on her book with author marianne tam she decided to do something with it
01:03:38
as described in the book i have life alison marian and alison's husband took the box back to the location where
01:03:46
alison was almost killed they went late at night so that the area looked exactly as alison remembered it
01:03:56
she removed the blood-stained garments and other items then piled them on the ground
01:04:02
with her husband's help alison set fire to the belongings as she watched them burn and then
01:04:10
eventually saw the flames die out alison felt a sense of relief [Music] [Music] you