Hebler Carl Friedrich "Fred"

The fatal encounter unfolded after Fred Hebler had temporarily left the property to go into town. A former farm employee who had been dismissed from his job on the farm Goedemoed exactly one week prior arrived at the homestead and approached the farmer's sixty-year-old wife, Maria Hebler. The assailant requested that she open the door, then forced his way inside the house and aggressively demanded the keys to the property's safe.When the attacker discovered that Fred Hebler had taken the keys with him to town, he bound Maria Hebler's hands tightly behind her back. He then proceeded to douse the interior of the house with a flammable substance and set the entire homestead on fire while she was trapped inside. Fred Hebler returned home in the midst of the escalating crisis and rushed inside the burning structure in a desperate attempt to rescue his wife, but he was overcome by the intense flames and smoke, resulting in his death by severe burning. Maria Hebler miraculously managed to untie her bonds, escape through a window of the blazing house, and survive the attack despite suffering injuries. Free State Police spokesperson Captain Mojalefa Mayiki handled the initial investigation, verifying that the primary motive linked back to retaliation over the prior dismissal.