Wall Emma

Age 3. On the evening of 24 September 1996, Dawid “Doggy Dog” Ruiters, André Douglas “China” Solomons, Charles “Chico” Adams, Johannes Bruintjies and Laston Chavula went to Farm Heldersig near Nieuwoudtville. Hendrina “Gansie” Louw was at the farmhouse with her visitors Julia Fairbanks-Smith and her three-year-old daughter Emma Wall. Police officer Johan Viviers, a friend of Louw, was also staying there. The attackers entered the farmhouse and confronted Louw, Fairbanks-Smith and Viviers while they were in the kitchen. Emma was asleep in a guest bedroom. Solomons took Fairbanks-Smith into a bathroom and killed her after a struggle. He then went to the room where Emma was sleeping and killed her. Emma was stabbed 29 times and sustained a fractured cheekbone; she also had a bruise on her cheek. Her throat was cut with a bread knife. Louw was stabbed 27 times and suffered 12 additional blunt-force injuries. Before killing Louw, Solomons forced her to show him how the immobiliser on her vehicle worked. Viviers was also attacked and suffered multiple stab wounds but survived. The attackers then fled the farm. Adams and Solomons were subsequently arrested at a roadblock, while Ruiters initially escaped. All five men were ultimately convicted in connection with the murders at Nieuwoudtville.