Schonken Isabel

She was at home with her husband, businessman Lars Schonken, when three armed men broke into the property during the early hours. The attackers had cut through the electric fence and entered through an open sliding door. Lars was attacked in the bedroom and shot in the torso while trying to confront one of the intruders. Isabel, who had been in the living room watching television, came towards the bedroom after hearing the disturbance and was shot in the chest. Contemporary reporting states that she was shot from behind while apparently trying to reach a guest bathroom where she could hide, and she died at the scene. The attackers stole property including a laptop, cellphone and handbag. Lars Schonken survived the attack but suffered a gunshot wound as well as serious head and arm injuries and spent several days in intensive care. The investigation traced Isabel's cellphone to Arao Mabasa, an inmate at Boksburg Prison. Mabasa testified that George Khoza, 27, of Thembisa, had given him the cellphone to sell and told him it came from a house where someone had been killed. Investigating officer Constable Simon Malesa testified that the cellphone had led police to Mabasa, who identified Khoza as the person who had given him the phone and who was present when he was arrested. George Khoza was subsequently tried in the Pretoria High Court for Isabel Schonken's murder, the attempted murder of Lars Schonken, housebreaking and robbery, and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. During the trial in September 2012 he pleaded not guilty and claimed that he had been at home in Thembisa with his girlfriend on the night of the murder.