Van der Schyff Frans Lourens

The elderly couple, who had been married for 53 years, were ambushed inside their farmhouse by a group of armed intruders during a violent house robbery. The perpetrators severely assaulted both victims around their heads. Hendrina Jacoba van der Schyff suffered devastating head trauma and died on the scene from being bludgeoned to death. Her husband, Frans van der Schyff, was also brutally bludgeoned and sustained critical head injuries. He was rushed to a hospital in Johannesburg for emergency treatment but his condition rapidly deteriorated, and he succumbed to his injuries on Friday, 11 October 2013. The attackers looted the home, stealing firearms and the couple's motor vehicle before fleeing the property. Following the attack, the South African Police Service (SAPS) launched a swift tracking operation. Within days, police officers tracked down and arrested two male suspects on a neighboring farm. At the time of their arrest, the suspects were found in unlawful possession of the couple's stolen vehicle and the stolen firearms. The suspects made their initial appearance in the Klerksdorp Magistrate's Court on Monday, 14 October 2013, facing charges of double murder and armed robbery with aggravating circumstances. They were subsequently remanded in custody during the regional high court trial proceedings