Ralfe Lynette

the attack was masterminded by a disgruntled former employee who had been previously fired for his involvement in livestock theft on the property. A gang of attackers arrived at the farm property under the false pretext of asking to purchase milk. They first confronted her 70-year-old husband, Nigel Ralfe, in the farm office. When he informed them that there was no milk available for sale, an intruder shot him at point-blank range through his left arm, disabling him, before the attackers proceeded to severely beat him up. The armed men manhandled Nigel Ralfe and forced him to lead them to the main homestead to find money. As Lynette Ralfe opened the door, the attackers immediately opened fire. She was shot in the chest and died instantly from the fatal gunshot wound. At the time of the shooting, she had been bathing her three young granddaughters—aged four, three, and one-and-a-half—who subsequently walked into the room and witnessed their grandfather covered in blood. Nigel Ralfe managed to calmly instruct the children to retreat to a bedroom and lock the door for safety. The perpetrators ransacked the property, stole a firearm along with various household valuables, and suddenly fled the scene. Nigel Ralfe survived the attack in a critical condition and was hospitalized at a local clinic.Law enforcement authorities from the specialized KwaZulu-Natal Police Midlands Task Team launched an aggressive investigation and quickly tracked down the perpetrators. Police intercepted the suspects and recovered a firearm directly connecting them to the crime scene, which had been identified as the weapon plundered from the Ralfe farm during the robbery. Police enacted two initial arrests within days of the crime. The suspects were identified as 29-year-old Bhekinkosi Mchunu and 38-year-old Dumisani Hadebe (initially recorded in early police reports as 27). They made their initial brief legal appearance in the Colenso Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, March 17, 2010, facing formal charges of murder, attempted murder, and house robbery with aggravating circumstances.