‘Tears and celebrations’– Alex Eliseev on the guilty verdict for Betty Ketani’s murderers

Three men were today convicted of killing Thandiwe Betty Ketani‚ a chef at a popular Johannesburg restaurant‚ nearly 17 years after she disappeared.

Alex Eliseev, whose book on the case, Cold Case Confession, is expected out from Pan Macmillan in May, tweeted live from the Johannesburg High Court:
 
 

Carrington Laughton was found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Ketani‚ while brothers and former policemen David and Carel Ranger were found guilty of culpable homicide and kidnapping.

Laughton was also convicted of the attempted kidnapping of another woman who worked with Ketani‚ Ruth Mncube.

Ketani worked as a chef at Rosebank Thai restaurant Cranks when she disappeared in May 1999. There was no trace of the Queenstown-born woman’s whereabouts until 13 years later‚ when a letter penned by Laughton and confessing to Ketani’s murder was discovered hidden in a Johannesburg house.

A few small bones were discovered in the garden of the house and these were later identified as Ketani’s. Her body lay buried in the garden under flower beds for five years before it was dug up and thrown in a river.

The motive for her murder may have been trouble with her employers at the restaurant.

Three other men had earlier pleaded guilty to being involved in her death and testified in exchange for lighter sentences. Laughton and the Ranger brothers had pleaded not guilty.

TMG Digital/TMG Courts and Law

For more on Cold Case Confession by Alex Eliseev, see:

The local non-fiction to look forward to in 2016 (Jan – June)