July 11, 2023 • 42 mins
Three final murders occur in rapid succession, placing Krugersdorp in a state of abject terror. Notoriety and performativity, however, make the members of EPD overconfident and sloppy. When the community demands action, the South African police finally begin to take the murder spree seriously. They assemble a task force to hunt down whoever is carrying out these vicious crimes.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
School of Humans.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This show follows the investigation of serial murders and contains
material that may be disturbing.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Listener discretion advised.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Jared Jackson went missing on December sixteenth of twenty sixteen,
the same day that Zack Valentine was apparently killed in
a car accident. This was no coincidence. After both men disappeared,
Alectis Perdaeis worked feverishly to get their hands on Zack
Valentine's life insurance PEA, and when a friend posted about
(00:42):
Zach's death on Facebook, the group thought they were in
the clear. They saw this as a green light to
file the claim, but these things take time, something EPD
didn't have. Someone else saw the post. Two Detective Susette
Canotse's daughter Shaney. She alerted her mother, I.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
Read something on Facebook and she was like, oh, this
may be a link.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
To my pace.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Although she was not working on the case, it had
stayed with her these last four years, so Suzette called
it in. She warned authorities to be extra suspicious of
anything involving Zach Valentine or Cecilia Stein. Her instincts were,
as usual, right on the money. Zach was in hiding
pretending to be dead until the coast was clear. Here's
(01:30):
Detective Ben Boysen.
Speaker 6 (01:32):
Zack Valentine became an issue for him because he wasn't hiding.
He said diabetic. He needed medicine. I didn't have money.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Life on the run was hard for Zach for obvious reasons.
He couldn't get a job, so he spent his days
and nights hold up in a cheap hotel outside Krueger's door,
living on cup of noodles, cigarettes, and the insolent brought him.
It would make sense that Laru would be genuinely concerned
(02:06):
for Zach. After all, he was the closest thing Laroux
had to a father or an older brother. According to
Yana Marx's book, LaRue warned Zack that Cecilia and the
others were considering getting rid of him because he was
becoming too expensive to keep alive.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
Maranda was working as a teacher. Salary was not enough
for all those people to live and to buy Zach
Valentine's medicine. So I think at the end of the
day they would have killed.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Him because they had gotten away with so much already.
Though Secilia and Marinda thought they were untouchable, here's doctor
Nikki Falkoff we met earlier in the series.
Speaker 7 (02:44):
Once you realized that the thing that is the most
taboo thing imaginable is actually possible for you to do,
your sense of yourself as being subject to the same
rules as everybody else in society probably starts to slowly disintegrate.
For these things like murder, like stealing, They've become lessonless
to booth for you as time goes by.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Because you think you were different, do you think you're exceptional?
Speaker 4 (03:10):
When the money didn't come. After Jared's death, EPD returned
to their old ways of haphazard, over zealous murder. While
some of epd's final victims were acquaintances and fellow members
of the Krugersdorp community, they were, ultimately, to Sicilia and Mirinda,
a means to an end, raw resources to be mined
(03:31):
in pursuit of a financial windfall. EPD now treated murder
as casually as a day at the office. Meanwhile, the
impact of their crimes shook Krugersdorp to its core, because
now anyone with a bank account was a potential target.
Speaker 8 (03:49):
It could have been me and you. They were doing
regular jobs, showing up for appointment and they were killed.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
From School of Humans and iHeart podcasts. This is Queen
Havoc and her murder cult. I'm your host, Kurt Kupachek,
Episode eight, Vile Hearts. If you've come this far with us,
you know this story is a bramble, a mess of
(04:15):
moving parts, a not that titans in the stomach and
won't let you rest until you've untied the narrative. There's
no way to tell this story without becoming sort of
consumed by it. Our colleague Jamaine Kriher warned us about
this actually while we were in South Africa.
Speaker 9 (04:34):
Every time you think you understand what's happening, you realize
that you're wrong. If you let it, this is the
type of story that will absolutely take over your life
because I don't think there'll ever be an end to it.
I think every time you turn a corner there's something new.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Pulling at all these dark and twisted threads is heroin,
even for a seasoned journalist like Yanna Marx.
Speaker 10 (04:55):
I had to work through every single piece of information
to be able to portray it accurately, and that meant
I had to like relive or try to put myself
there on the scene, try to relive through the dockets,
to photos, the different narratives, and yeah, I mean it
took quite at all.
Speaker 8 (05:14):
And I will struggle to sleep. I would get bad
dreams because it was hard. It's hard stuff and if
you're close to something like that, I mean, I can
just imagine if that's what I went through, how it
must have been for the family members of these victims.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Between the whiffs of Satanism, the manipulation of Christianity, the
crooked cops, the slaughter of innocence, and the gross human
capacity for this level of brutality, this story took over
our lives too. It was quite a daunting challenge to
unravel truth from fiction, to detangle lies from hearsay and memory.
(05:49):
This long after the fact, there are pieces of this story,
details that we were forced to omit for the sake
of clarity, because, as Jamaine pointed out, every time you
turn a corner, there's a new perspective to consider. We've
done our best to dig for the truth and allowed
to become our compass. And the sad fact of this
(06:13):
moment is that Electus Perdais would seemingly stop at nothing
to satiate Cecilia's greed and lust for power. The appointment
murders continued in twenty sixteen. EPD believed they were above
the law, and so they struck close to home, taking
advantage of their actual neighbors. It was late summer in
(06:38):
the Southern Hemisphere when the murders began again, just after
the realization that the insurance money was not going to
hit their bank accounts for some time. On January twenty seventh,
twenty sixteen, EPD took aim at fifty seven year old
Glenn McGregor.
Speaker 6 (06:57):
John Barnett used to lift opposite him actually knew exactly
where he was living.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
McGregor wasn't rich, but he was a tax consultant that
qualified him. Surely he had money squirreled away somewhere. John
Barnard told his cohort what he apparently knew. For a fact,
McGregor didn't trust banks, so he must keep all his
money at home. Cecilia and Mirinda also knew McGregor. He
was a local. He lived just outside Krueger's Torp, but
(07:24):
his office was only a few blocks away from Cassana Flats.
John Barnard actually rented property from Glenn, and the group
had once teased Mirinda about Glenn being a potential mate.
Driving along the dusty streets of Krueger's Torp with Ben,
we passed MacGregor's office. The awning still eerily bears his name.
Speaker 6 (07:46):
Now you see Wheeler MacGregor and Associates, and this was
his office.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Mirinda met McGregor at that same office, claiming she needed
tax advice. True to form, she talked him into a
business meeting later at his home. McGregor was surprised when
he opened the door to see Mirinda and her two
grown children standing there. She never said anything about bringing
(08:17):
her kids, but he graciously invited them in. They chatted
for about twenty minutes. It was friendly enough, some get
to know you chit chat. Then, without warning, Mirinda pulled
out a gun. She shoved it in McGregor's face. This
is a stick up, she shouted. MacGregor laughed loudly, but
(08:37):
then quickly froze once he realized this was no joke.
Marinda's face matched the flat, pallid expressions of her two children.
Their plan hold him at gunpoint, get his banking information,
drain his accounts, then strangle him. No gun meant no
ballistic evidence. Then they would leave just as they left
(08:59):
the other to be discovered by a loved one. But
as usual, things went awry. McGregor stood up, ready to
take on LaRue to fight for his life. McGregor was
a much bigger man than LaRue, so Marinda panicked. Fearing
(09:22):
for her son's life and the plan falling apart, she
fired her twenty two pistol, landing two bullets in McGregor's gut.
McGregor collapsed to the floor, LaRue bound his feet. Marcelle
got busy searching the house for cash. Mirinda bent down,
low her lips to his ear. She promised Glenn she'd
(09:46):
call an ambulance. In exchange for access to his banking
app Mirinda managed to transfer six thousand Rand about three
hundred and twenty US dollars into her bank account for cover.
She attached a memo to the transfer great Fuck. Once
the money was delivered, Marinda demanded that LaRue finish Glen
(10:08):
off with his rope. She nicknamed it his chokey chokie
after he had used it on Dearren Jackson. Before Mirinda
and her children fled their victims home, they slipped Glenn's
body into the bathtub and left him soaking in warm water.
Cecilia said it would throw off the coroner's estimated time
(10:29):
of death. That's where McGregor was discovered the next day.
That afternoon, on January twenty eighth, while Mirinda was teaching
her students English, Cecilia sent LaRue to the high school
to fetch Marinda's bank card so he could withdraw all
(10:51):
the money from McGregor and hand it over immediately. Cecilia
wanted to keep all the money in her own hands.
Confident they'd got and away with yet another murder, the
members of EPD subsisted for the next few months on
what little they'd robbed from McGregor. That paltry sum a
mere three hundred bucks, was why Glenn McGregor had to die.
(11:15):
His life was worth two months of time for Zach Valentine.
Soon enough, Cecilia decided they needed a bigger score, which
meant they needed to kill again. In less than a month,
between May tenth and May thirty first of twenty sixteen,
they committed three more murders. Maritzka Cootsaer was a respected
(11:40):
local crime reporter at the time, and covered the next
murder of Anthony.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Scholfield to us, the first murder felt like Anthony Scholfield
because that's actually when it started falling a botch.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
You know, here's Colonel Christelle Boisen who spoke to Anthony's wife.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
This was like the pilot murder for them, you know,
trying out a pilot plan and if this works, we're
going to do it again. And surely they did it
again with the two other murders that followed after.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Other than the Myers and McGregor, all the appointment murders
took place in Kruger's door proper. In fact, the remaining
three murders would all be carried out inside Mirinda's own
apartment at Casana Flats.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
Playing with Marinda was John Barnat and LaRue. Marcel stayed
with Cecilia downstairs. Marinda stayed in the living room and
that's where they killed, and she was sleeping d every
night after the Quler.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
On May tenth, twenty sixteen, Anthony Schofield, a financial broker
that Marenda had worked with in the past, got a call. LaRue,
using a fake name and a cheap SIM card, set
the appointment through Schofield's wife and bookkeeper, Heather. They were
to meet their prospective client at key West, a shopping
center and krugers Dorp. Here's Colonel Christelle Boison, who spoke
(13:02):
to Anthony's wife.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Mister Sheffield, informed us that on the day of the murder,
she was actually packing the caravan because her and a
husband would have gone on this long camping trip on
the first one that they've taken for a very long while,
and Shelfield was just attending his last appointment before they
would have left for the Strip. He did leave, but
(13:24):
he never came back.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
LaRue called Schofield right at their meeting time six o'clock,
saying he had a crisis. He asked if Schofield could
come to his place for the meeting instead, the address
seventeen Cassana. Schofield obliged and was surprised when he arrived
in saw Marinda there. Good grief, you live here too,
(13:49):
he said. They acted fast, holding him at gunpoint a
thirty eight special this time until he handed over his
bank card and pin into ordered Marcel and John Barnard
to go to the ATM down the street and make
sure the pin number worked. Cash in hand, they headed back.
Schofield was dead by the time they returned, John and
(14:13):
LaRue wrapped his body in a black plastic bag and
carried it down the stairs, grabbing his car keys on
the way out. They placed the body in his trunk
or the boot as they call it, and abandoned his
Honda a few streets away, leaving the keys in the ignition,
hoping that a desperate person might steal the car with
(14:33):
the body in it. Maritzka coats there recalls the day
law enforcement found his body.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Anthony Schorefield was murdered. It was my first off day
in months. So my contact, you know, she sends men Macy.
She's like, listen here an elderly man murdered, found in
his boot. You know you need to write the story.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Tired but committed to her work, Maritzka drove to the
scene first.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Time, pissed off because it's my off days, but out
of curiosity, I drove to the school where his body
was found. Tried to see if I could find anything.
You know, because when you write as a journalist, you know,
you get familiar with your community, You get familiar with
the crimes, You start understanding things.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Although Krueger's door had a lot of crime, this one
felt bizarre.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
So it immediately stood out to me because obviously I
was writing crime a lot, so I knew which stop
of crime happened in what area. And this was really
a weird crime. You know, who does this? You know,
kill someone, leaves them in their boot, leaves the keys
in the car, and I mean this was introducedov North.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Over the next few days, the killers went back and
withdrew the daily maximum allowance until the card was eventually canceled.
Speaker 6 (15:49):
And then just around the corner is which Eddy after
they killed him, they came here and they bought meat
from this place to have a party.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
LaRue used him share to pick something up from Marcel.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
Luru bought some Houdis for im and his sister a
disk shop. Yah, And that's all of Skullfield's money.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
This was epd's biggest score, only providing them with about
sixteen thousand, six hundred rand, still only about eight hundred
and seventy five US dollars, all going directly to Cecilia.
This would be their pattern moving forward. The ease and
immediacy of it appealed to Cecilia. Two would hold the
(16:33):
victim at gunpoint, while others would go to the ATM
and drain their accounts. Then their victim would be killed,
their body disappeared, human lives disposed of with barely his
second thought. Luckily, for the people of Krugersdorp, money leaves
a trail. On May twenty sixth, about two weeks after
(17:04):
Schofield's life was taken, the body of a young man,
Kevin McAlpine, was discovered in one of Kruegersdorp's most dangerous neighborhoods.
Kevin was also a financial advisor. Only twenty nine years old,
he'd recently celebrated his first wedding anniversary. His wife, Keziah,
was seven months pregnant. Kevin had been actively looking for
(17:27):
a new job as well, making a career change before
becoming a father. He promised Kezia that this would be
his last appointment for a while. They couldn't say no
to a potential client. Here's Christell again.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
McAlpine wasn't supposed to attend the appointment that first found
another broker, but he's not working in that business anymore.
But he has a friend that would appreciate their business,
and he then, not knowing, is sending someone else to
his death, passed the appointment on to Mac Alpine.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Unfortunately, he crossed paths with Queen Havoc's band of wayward huntsman.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
When Kevin was murdered, that was the turning point, the
first turning point.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Meritzka was called to the scene that night as well.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
It's eleven o'clock at night. I'm sleeping. My phone rings.
My contact says, hey, pop up, Stone up ons it alike,
So that roughly translates to hey, girl, get up, we've
got a body.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
She makes her way there. A large crowd surrounds Kevin's
open trunk.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So now I think to myself, oh fucking know. Now
I'm gonna get you chased off the scene, because usually
that's what happens, you know, the family they don't want
the journalist day.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
But then she's approached by someone.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
So now this man comes. He isn't tears, and he
says to me, Marisco, thank goodness you are here. Now
I'm like, how does this man know my name? And
he grabs me and he's crying, and he says, it's
Kevin in the boots, even in the boot.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Confused but present, Maritska tries to make sense of this.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Okay, now I know the victim's name. But it still
didn't add up. And then he said, what will you
are Nates say about that? So you are Nita Skeavin's mother,
I swear to you, know, like they say when it
feels like a brick walls fall on you. It was
that moment because then I realized that I knew that
person in that boot, you know, like it was the
(19:25):
most bizarre feeling in the world.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Maritzka is a well known journalist who, like Yanna and Ben,
wrote a book on the Kruger Store of Killings. It's
called Outcast. Over the course of her reporting, she became
a close confidant to LaRue more on that soon. She's
a warm presence. She has an infectious laugh and vibrant energy,
and this spade of murders had become personal for her,
(19:49):
too close for comfort.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
You get so used to writing about people you don't know,
writing nice stories, sad stories you know, but you don't
often get to write about you old mother's base friends. Son.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Epd's next victim was discovered four days later, on May thirtieth,
twenty sixteen, a woman, this time breaking epd'sm just slightly.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
The next murder was Hanley Lauterogan.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Mirinda had made an appointment with Hanley Lattigan for three PM,
claiming she was looking to purchase a new home and
she had one favor to ask, though Mirinda said her
car was in the shop and asked Hanley if she
could swing by and pick her up on the way
to the house. The morning of May thirty first, twenty sixteen,
(20:40):
was the last time Hanley's husband saw her alive. She
was fifty two years old. Ritzka didn't know Honley personally,
but Kevin McAlpine's sister did.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I remember the night when she went missing. Kavin's sister
actually sent me a message on ficebook saying, Marisco, look
what's going on on? You must help them. It's busy
happening again.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
While Mirinda held Honley lot again at gunpoint, Honley had
cleverly managed to transfer the large sum to her husband,
knowing this would trigger an alert on his phone, which
it did. Soon after, the husband also received a phone
call from Honley's colleague wondering why she hadn't shown up
at the house she was supposed to be showing to Mirinda.
(21:26):
Her husband made a frantic call to authorities, and a
search party began. Tragically, it was too late for Honley.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
School to them. That was on the way to school
founded the next morning next to the right.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
I must admit it's a bit nauseating to tick through
these murders so quickly. The weight of these tragic events
is not lost on us. Our aim here is to
avoid walking you through too much more brutality and refocus
our lens on the light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
This is not Kruguzdop police area. This is the Antantine
policing area. So they will open the kaise yeah, and
the cases will not be linked to Kruguzdolt.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
Hanley's body was found dumped in Randfontein. That's another interesting
break in epd's pattern. Randfontaine is the next town over
from Krugersdorp, but technically falls in another district covered by
another police force. Sicili and Morinda were now fully relying
on sloppy police work and their inside connections to get
(22:34):
away with literal murder. But the day after Hanley's murder
June one, twenty sixteen, Brigadier Many Victor walked into the
krugersdor police station. Three rapid fire murders had taken place,
and the citizens of Krugersdorp were outraged. Brigadier Many Victor
(22:57):
was already a veteran officer by then and was no
for his work in intelligence. We spoke with him on
the ground in South Africa.
Speaker 11 (23:05):
There was a huge outcry in the Kyugozstal community, people
thinking this a serial murderer on the loose. People were
marching to the police station and they were demanding actions
and so forth. So the day after the third murder,
which was Hardy lot I, walked into the Kyugozstal police station.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Brigadier Victor immediately began assembling a task team of highly
skilled investigators to help crack this high priority case. The
members of this task force referred to their operation as
the war room. This term implied to the public that
they were taking the situation seriously, treating the investigation with
(23:49):
the urgency and the severity it deserved.
Speaker 8 (23:53):
When Moni came on board at that point, he was
the head of our crime intelligence and I mean they
were slacking and he had to war room. We all
different disciplines within the police came together and that's where
it actually realized, Okay, you know what, you have something,
I have something. I think to some things all connected
in some way.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Besides the obvious proximity of the murders and the signature
methods of kill and disposal, the Brigadier immediately noticed a
common trait among the latest victims of the kruger Storp
serial killings.
Speaker 11 (24:22):
All of them were financial bocus. So the three murders
were linked in the Saints so that the target was
people that I used to working after. I was meeting
people and strange places, taking them to have discussions or
to cl so, whatever the case may be.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
This made them perfect marks for EPD, just like you
were me. They were simply earning their scratch, making a living,
not knowing that they were scheduling appointments for their own demise.
The day Hanley went missing, her husband had alerted more
than just the police, He had the full support of
the local community. Here is Detective Vinen Vinter, who worked
(25:06):
within the Ranfontein district.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
The night Honorly disappeared, I got a phone call from
a missing persons organization by the name of Pink Ladies.
We then liaised with Brigadier Mooni and the following morning
we got a message that a body was found in
the Renfuntin area.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Detective Vinter's commander at the time was Lieutenant Colonel Eric Krueger.
Speaker 12 (25:34):
My station was then Rene Fontaine as a group commander.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Detective Krueger's expertise is in tracing suspects, so when he
noticed that other bodies had been found not so far away,
he contacted Brigadier Manny Victor, who then tapped the two
of them to become part of his war room effort.
There were new cops, now trustworthy ones, and they were communicating,
(25:58):
finally beginning to connect the dots.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
The Brigadier then decided it would be best to get
a toss team up and running, since these guys is
on are being committed in a regular time frame.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
While the two starting officers began digging for evidence, Brigadier
Victor continued to build his task team. He called the
most dogged cop that he knew.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
You can't become a policeman for money because there is
no money in the police to look into victims' family's
eyes when as in the criminal degild tears coming out
of their eyes and hugging me and thanked me for
assisting to get justice. It's much higher than he is.
Slary that any person can can pay you. That's why
(26:43):
I became a cop.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
The task team became a pack of bloodhounds, and Ben
Boysen was the top dog, leading their charge, closing in
on the devil's trail. Detective Ben Boysen spent most of
his adult life in Kruger's Tour. He was a member
(27:08):
of a special unit called the Hawks for many years.
It targets corruption and organized crime. Before he received the
call from Manny Victor, he already knew about the nameless
fear that stalked his town, and he watched his Facebook
became the new town square.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
When the three appointments dealings happened in Kruguzdor, the people
went on Facebook and they say, yeh, this need to
stop now because all the people feared to get out
of the houses at night and stuff like that. And
somebody said on Facebook they wish they they can get
a good cope now to investigate this.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Despite Ben's calling to serve and protect, he still knew
what he would be up against should he get involved.
Speaker 6 (27:53):
I wish I can do it, but sometimes you need
to watch what you wish for because it can come true.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
On June sixth, Ben agreed to lead the sprawling Murder
investigation under one condition.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
So I said, I will take over the investigation, but
I'll do it on my own.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Ben was under no illusions about what to expect from
local cops. He echoed a sentiment that we in the
US are unfortunately all too familiar with many overworked, underpaid,
and undertrained cops are punching the clock in a broken system.
Speaker 6 (28:31):
Saving six seven cops out to seven or eight different
people to take statements and stuff. Some way, somebody is
going to do not mention stuff in a statement, and
you're going to lose your golden threat in the investigation.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I love that image. A golden thread, a through line,
a theme, a pattern, an m o Here's detective violent Winter.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
We realized that certain other murders that was committed prior
at the same murders of Barandi, where people will will
be called for an appointment, and after the appointment I disappeared.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Thankfully, Ben had Manny's rock solid team of road tested
investigators helping him dig for evidence. Maybe in this case
they were the exception. But in order to keep hold
of that golden thread of his detective poison, did accept
the full weight of responsibility on this investigation, and he
(29:34):
knew he could rely on himself to see it through
or die trying. Meanwhile, laying low at Cassana Flats, Secilia
and Mirinda, with the help of John Barnard, planned their
next hit. More insurance, fraud, more murder, more Mayhem was
on the horizon for EPD, and Zach Valentine was still
(29:58):
in hiding. He had taken shelter with a Christian ministry
in a neighboring district. Cecilia was too blinded by her
lust for money and power to see what was coming.
The war she had waged against her fellow humans, the
spell she had cast on her followers was about to boomerang.
(30:18):
Just as Cecilia had taken down Rhea by attacking those
close to her, the police would infiltrate Cecilia's in her
circle and break the very people she had scared. In
the submission, as Detective Ben Boysen got acquainted with the
details of the killings, neither he nor the war room
(30:39):
officers had any idea how many murderers they were dealing with.
But then there was a breakthrough. Here's Detective Vinter.
Speaker 5 (30:47):
Normally, when money east withdrawn from ATM over a certain amount,
the ATM will actually capture a photograph of you.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
After trying angulating some cell phone data, the task team
had narrowed their search to focus on West Kruger's store.
They retrieved the CCTV footage from the ATMs that corresponded
with the three victims withdrawals around the time of their deaths.
The images were blurry, but the police could tell that
the suspects were young, possibly even teenagers. Then one of
(31:22):
HRT Kruger's sources pointed out that the suspects looked a
lot like Merinda Stein's kids, the same Arendu Stein that
had been brought in for questioning in the aftermath of
more than one homicide. Here's Detective Vinter, who was busy
in the war room.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
We then did a social media profiling on them. We
were actually went in and had a look at the
relevant social media the facebooks with the other counts. Add
to actually obtaining all the photographs that can be used
for comparison purposes.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
With not much more than blurry footage and a potential
social media photo comparison, detective Krueger took a field trip.
Speaker 12 (32:06):
I just was curious to see what the two children
look like. You know, are they the same that I've
got on my video footage.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
When he knocked on the door, burn the answered. Surprisingly,
she didn't seem alarmed or even averse to talking to him.
Speaker 12 (32:20):
I didn't went to the flat that morning whom Miranda
was staying, and I interviewed, asked her about the children
and said, we're doing investigation. Did they mind to come
to the police station for photos. I was taking a
big chance because I know actually reason't for them to
come in.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
He was stunned when his gambit actually paid off.
Speaker 12 (32:44):
She found me about two o'clock that afternoon and sit
waiting for us at the police station. I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
Marinda assumed the cops would never put together a legitimate
case against her or her children, or Cecilia or any
of the others. For years, local police failed to do
exactly that. Why would it be any different this time?
Speaker 12 (33:08):
So they came in. Now what we called is a
controlled photo and an uncontrolled photo. The uncontrolled photo will
be the photo from the ATM, and the control one
will be when you asked him to stand in a
similar way that the photo on the video foot Teacher
look luck and they were very cooperative. I couldn't believe
(33:31):
myself it's actually happening.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
The golden thread was starting to shine through the bramble.
On the day Hanley was murdered, Marcel received an acceptance
letter to medical school. Here's Detective Susette recalling the harsh
reality that Marcel was facing. She took out her frustrations
in her diary.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
She was actually a very, very cleave a girl with
distinctions in all her subjects. And at the back of
this diary she wrote, in big letters, I don't know
why my mother is doing this to me.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
When Marinda heard that Marcel got into school, she flew
into her rage. Marcell pleaded with her mother, but Marinda
would hear nothing of it. When Marcel wouldn't let it go,
her mother threatened to get rid of her, just as
they had gotten rid of Mikayla. Here's Maritzka again.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
And Laru told me straight up that Mikhayla's murder was
always the example. You know, I like to say that
the same can happen to you.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Marenda threatened LaRue as well when he resisted killing Hamley.
There was a lot of back and forth between Marinda
and Harmley while they negotiated money.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Out of her.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
When it came time to end her life, LaRue begged
his mother not to make him do it.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
He called Hanley a tenny, so that's like an auntie
and an elderly woman in Afrikaans, and he couldn't get
it off of his heart to kill at Tenny. And
then his mom actually turned the gun on him and says, listen,
if you're not going to kill her, I'm going to
kill you, and I'm going to kill her anyway.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
LaRue later told Maritzka that Cecilia grew increasingly ruthless leading
up to the final appointment murder. By that point, EPD
had a kill list, which included LaRue's father. LaRue had
recently started to rebuild this relationship.
Speaker 6 (35:29):
He was trying to convince his father he wants to
be part of his life again.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
How did Cecilia respond. She told LaRue to take out
a life insurance policy, two in fact, one for his
father and one for himself. LaRue was now on high alert,
but he continued to follow orders and scheduled a fishing
trip with his estrange father. It happened to fall on
the day after Marinda brought her children in to be
(35:55):
photographed by the cops that morning. Placing worms on a hook,
Laru floated the life insurance policy idea to his father,
but this conversation would be interrupted.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
That's why he was they when he was arrested, because
he was trying to convince his father that he can
take a policy out on his father's life.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
On July twenty third, twenty sixteen, LaRue Stein was arrested.
He was sitting by a damn fishing with his father
when the police descended. LaRue was apprehended just outside a
krueger stor and handed over to Manny Victor's task team.
(36:45):
The prosecutor then charged the twenty year old with kidnapping, robbery,
and three counts of murder. Later that same day, police
busted down Merinda's door at Cassano Flats to arrest Marcel.
When they searched their belongings, they found a baseball cap
and dog PAGs that matched the ones I did in
(37:06):
the CCTV footage. As they rummaged through the apartment, one
of the arresting officers spied a pot plant on the
back porch. Marijuana was still illegal in South Africa at
the time. Since it was Merinda's home, they cuffed her
and threw her in the paddy wagon too. When questioned,
(37:27):
Marcel and LaRue obediently stuck to their rehearsed story. Detective
Ben Boysen says the police didn't really have much evidence
to go on.
Speaker 6 (37:35):
The geis is that the police have against them is
only they wind and throw the money of the deceased
and Marcelle's explanation day off was that Brady got it
from the Nigerians and the Nigerians gave him the Panamas
and they will only was supposed to go and throw
the money for the Nigerians.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
In South Africa, Nigerians is most often and unfortunate post
apart hide shorthand for drug dealers. In just three weeks time,
Manny Victor's War Room put Marinda, Marcel and LaRue all
behind bars, just in time to save the life of
a local doctor who is the next scheduled victim from
(38:19):
their ever growing kill list. This investigation might seem slow
given the CCTV footage, but this pace was impressive when
compared to the way cases were typically managed in American movies.
Speaker 6 (38:33):
That they might you know, there's a murder and there's
a lot of cops investigating it and within African two
or three weeks, everybody's rated. And in South Africa doesn't
work like that. If you get a kiss, you investigated,
nobody else assisted you investigated.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
Detective Ben Boysen is an old school type, a man
of service and honor. He's a cop because he had
a calling, and he's also the author of On the
Devil's Trail, How I hunted down the Kruger Store of Killers.
Speaker 6 (39:02):
The biggest problem that most of the policemen do and
they investigate the crime where Sism is involved, and I
want to investigates.
Speaker 11 (39:11):
Is not the crime.
Speaker 6 (39:12):
It's a religion, so it's not against the Luan. So
you still need to focus on on the murder.
Speaker 4 (39:23):
Unlike prior special investigators, Detective Ben Boysen wasn't the least
bit captivated by the sealacious. He had no time for
the supernatural. He came to solve crimes, not to speculate
about witches and blood drinkers. Ben Boisen was a dogged cop.
His heart was in it, fully committed to bringing justice
(39:44):
to the wronged and peace to the grieving. However, this
case would test even him. Mirinda would once again find
her way out of police custody, and the task team
would continue to search for the conductor of this cacophony,
Queen Havoc herself. This time, Mirinda and Cecilia had officially
(40:07):
met their match detected. Ben Boyson would not rest until
the killing ceased.
Speaker 6 (40:16):
That is the school way Maranda used to teach. When
did she stop teaching when I arrested her.
Speaker 4 (40:27):
On the next episode of Queen Havoc.
Speaker 6 (40:30):
Le Rustaine made a confession.
Speaker 8 (40:33):
They managed to id him as Zach Valentine.
Speaker 6 (40:37):
For a young boy like that picking up a date
person and allowed him into a vehicle. It's totally not possible.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
She wasn't involved in any actual killing.
Speaker 6 (40:48):
She used the people to do it for her while
I was speaking to him in prison. I've got the
scenes that is predicting the people around him.
Speaker 4 (41:01):
Queen Havoc and Her Murder Cult is a production of
Schooly Humans and iHeart Podcasts. Queen Havoc is hosted and
created by me Kurt Kupachick, produced and written by Jennifer Takeiny,
Julia Chriscau, and Kurt Kupachick. Lead producer is Julia Chriska.
Story editor is Saren Burnett. Senior producer is Amelia Brock.
(41:24):
Production manager is Daisy Church. Original music composed by Claire Campbell, Editing,
sound design and scoring by Jesse Niswanger, Additional editing by
Miranda Hawkins. Associate producers are DaShan Moodley and Jamaine Krier.
Additional producing by Ben Melman, fact checking by Dennis Webster.
(41:48):
Recording engineers are Graham Gibson, Clay Hillenberg and Josh Hook.
Executive producers are Virginia Prescott, L. C. Crowley, Brandon Barr,
Jennifer Takini and Kurt Kupachak. We want to thank all
of those who so generously welcomed us in South Africa
and shared their stories. We're incredibly grateful to you all.
(42:12):
We also want to acknowledge how traumatic these events are
for the victims and their families. Please respect their privacy.
If you or someone you know has been affected by
cult behaviors, there are resources available, including voices for Dignity
at Christine Murray dot com
School of Humans.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This show follows the investigation of serial murders and contains
material that may be disturbing.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Listener discretion advised.
Speaker 4 (00:19):
Jared Jackson went missing on December sixteenth of twenty sixteen,
the same day that Zack Valentine was apparently killed in
a car accident. This was no coincidence. After both men disappeared,
Alectis Perdaeis worked feverishly to get their hands on Zack
Valentine's life insurance PEA, and when a friend posted about
(00:42):
Zach's death on Facebook, the group thought they were in
the clear. They saw this as a green light to
file the claim, but these things take time, something EPD
didn't have. Someone else saw the post. Two Detective Susette
Canotse's daughter Shaney. She alerted her mother, I.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
Read something on Facebook and she was like, oh, this
may be a link.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
To my pace.
Speaker 4 (01:07):
Although she was not working on the case, it had
stayed with her these last four years, so Suzette called
it in. She warned authorities to be extra suspicious of
anything involving Zach Valentine or Cecilia Stein. Her instincts were,
as usual, right on the money. Zach was in hiding
pretending to be dead until the coast was clear. Here's
(01:30):
Detective Ben Boysen.
Speaker 6 (01:32):
Zack Valentine became an issue for him because he wasn't hiding.
He said diabetic. He needed medicine. I didn't have money.
Speaker 4 (01:45):
Life on the run was hard for Zach for obvious reasons.
He couldn't get a job, so he spent his days
and nights hold up in a cheap hotel outside Krueger's door,
living on cup of noodles, cigarettes, and the insolent brought him.
It would make sense that Laru would be genuinely concerned
(02:06):
for Zach. After all, he was the closest thing Laroux
had to a father or an older brother. According to
Yana Marx's book, LaRue warned Zack that Cecilia and the
others were considering getting rid of him because he was
becoming too expensive to keep alive.
Speaker 6 (02:23):
Maranda was working as a teacher. Salary was not enough
for all those people to live and to buy Zach
Valentine's medicine. So I think at the end of the
day they would have killed.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Him because they had gotten away with so much already.
Though Secilia and Marinda thought they were untouchable, here's doctor
Nikki Falkoff we met earlier in the series.
Speaker 7 (02:44):
Once you realized that the thing that is the most
taboo thing imaginable is actually possible for you to do,
your sense of yourself as being subject to the same
rules as everybody else in society probably starts to slowly disintegrate.
For these things like murder, like stealing, They've become lessonless
to booth for you as time goes by.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Because you think you were different, do you think you're exceptional?
Speaker 4 (03:10):
When the money didn't come. After Jared's death, EPD returned
to their old ways of haphazard, over zealous murder. While
some of epd's final victims were acquaintances and fellow members
of the Krugersdorp community, they were, ultimately, to Sicilia and Mirinda,
a means to an end, raw resources to be mined
(03:31):
in pursuit of a financial windfall. EPD now treated murder
as casually as a day at the office. Meanwhile, the
impact of their crimes shook Krugersdorp to its core, because
now anyone with a bank account was a potential target.
Speaker 8 (03:49):
It could have been me and you. They were doing
regular jobs, showing up for appointment and they were killed.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
From School of Humans and iHeart podcasts. This is Queen
Havoc and her murder cult. I'm your host, Kurt Kupachek,
Episode eight, Vile Hearts. If you've come this far with us,
you know this story is a bramble, a mess of
(04:15):
moving parts, a not that titans in the stomach and
won't let you rest until you've untied the narrative. There's
no way to tell this story without becoming sort of
consumed by it. Our colleague Jamaine Kriher warned us about
this actually while we were in South Africa.
Speaker 9 (04:34):
Every time you think you understand what's happening, you realize
that you're wrong. If you let it, this is the
type of story that will absolutely take over your life
because I don't think there'll ever be an end to it.
I think every time you turn a corner there's something new.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Pulling at all these dark and twisted threads is heroin,
even for a seasoned journalist like Yanna Marx.
Speaker 10 (04:55):
I had to work through every single piece of information
to be able to portray it accurately, and that meant
I had to like relive or try to put myself
there on the scene, try to relive through the dockets,
to photos, the different narratives, and yeah, I mean it
took quite at all.
Speaker 8 (05:14):
And I will struggle to sleep. I would get bad
dreams because it was hard. It's hard stuff and if
you're close to something like that, I mean, I can
just imagine if that's what I went through, how it
must have been for the family members of these victims.
Speaker 4 (05:28):
Between the whiffs of Satanism, the manipulation of Christianity, the
crooked cops, the slaughter of innocence, and the gross human
capacity for this level of brutality, this story took over
our lives too. It was quite a daunting challenge to
unravel truth from fiction, to detangle lies from hearsay and memory.
(05:49):
This long after the fact, there are pieces of this story,
details that we were forced to omit for the sake
of clarity, because, as Jamaine pointed out, every time you
turn a corner, there's a new perspective to consider. We've
done our best to dig for the truth and allowed
to become our compass. And the sad fact of this
(06:13):
moment is that Electus Perdais would seemingly stop at nothing
to satiate Cecilia's greed and lust for power. The appointment
murders continued in twenty sixteen. EPD believed they were above
the law, and so they struck close to home, taking
advantage of their actual neighbors. It was late summer in
(06:38):
the Southern Hemisphere when the murders began again, just after
the realization that the insurance money was not going to
hit their bank accounts for some time. On January twenty seventh,
twenty sixteen, EPD took aim at fifty seven year old
Glenn McGregor.
Speaker 6 (06:57):
John Barnett used to lift opposite him actually knew exactly
where he was living.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
McGregor wasn't rich, but he was a tax consultant that
qualified him. Surely he had money squirreled away somewhere. John
Barnard told his cohort what he apparently knew. For a fact,
McGregor didn't trust banks, so he must keep all his
money at home. Cecilia and Mirinda also knew McGregor. He
was a local. He lived just outside Krueger's Torp, but
(07:24):
his office was only a few blocks away from Cassana Flats.
John Barnard actually rented property from Glenn, and the group
had once teased Mirinda about Glenn being a potential mate.
Driving along the dusty streets of Krueger's Torp with Ben,
we passed MacGregor's office. The awning still eerily bears his name.
Speaker 6 (07:46):
Now you see Wheeler MacGregor and Associates, and this was
his office.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Mirinda met McGregor at that same office, claiming she needed
tax advice. True to form, she talked him into a
business meeting later at his home. McGregor was surprised when
he opened the door to see Mirinda and her two
grown children standing there. She never said anything about bringing
(08:17):
her kids, but he graciously invited them in. They chatted
for about twenty minutes. It was friendly enough, some get
to know you chit chat. Then, without warning, Mirinda pulled
out a gun. She shoved it in McGregor's face. This
is a stick up, she shouted. MacGregor laughed loudly, but
(08:37):
then quickly froze once he realized this was no joke.
Marinda's face matched the flat, pallid expressions of her two children.
Their plan hold him at gunpoint, get his banking information,
drain his accounts, then strangle him. No gun meant no
ballistic evidence. Then they would leave just as they left
(08:59):
the other to be discovered by a loved one. But
as usual, things went awry. McGregor stood up, ready to
take on LaRue to fight for his life. McGregor was
a much bigger man than LaRue, so Marinda panicked. Fearing
(09:22):
for her son's life and the plan falling apart, she
fired her twenty two pistol, landing two bullets in McGregor's gut.
McGregor collapsed to the floor, LaRue bound his feet. Marcelle
got busy searching the house for cash. Mirinda bent down,
low her lips to his ear. She promised Glenn she'd
(09:46):
call an ambulance. In exchange for access to his banking
app Mirinda managed to transfer six thousand Rand about three
hundred and twenty US dollars into her bank account for cover.
She attached a memo to the transfer great Fuck. Once
the money was delivered, Marinda demanded that LaRue finish Glen
(10:08):
off with his rope. She nicknamed it his chokey chokie
after he had used it on Dearren Jackson. Before Mirinda
and her children fled their victims home, they slipped Glenn's
body into the bathtub and left him soaking in warm water.
Cecilia said it would throw off the coroner's estimated time
(10:29):
of death. That's where McGregor was discovered the next day.
That afternoon, on January twenty eighth, while Mirinda was teaching
her students English, Cecilia sent LaRue to the high school
to fetch Marinda's bank card so he could withdraw all
(10:51):
the money from McGregor and hand it over immediately. Cecilia
wanted to keep all the money in her own hands.
Confident they'd got and away with yet another murder, the
members of EPD subsisted for the next few months on
what little they'd robbed from McGregor. That paltry sum a
mere three hundred bucks, was why Glenn McGregor had to die.
(11:15):
His life was worth two months of time for Zach Valentine.
Soon enough, Cecilia decided they needed a bigger score, which
meant they needed to kill again. In less than a month,
between May tenth and May thirty first of twenty sixteen,
they committed three more murders. Maritzka Cootsaer was a respected
(11:40):
local crime reporter at the time, and covered the next
murder of Anthony.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Scholfield to us, the first murder felt like Anthony Scholfield
because that's actually when it started falling a botch.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
You know, here's Colonel Christelle Boisen who spoke to Anthony's wife.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
This was like the pilot murder for them, you know,
trying out a pilot plan and if this works, we're
going to do it again. And surely they did it
again with the two other murders that followed after.
Speaker 4 (12:07):
Other than the Myers and McGregor, all the appointment murders
took place in Kruger's door proper. In fact, the remaining
three murders would all be carried out inside Mirinda's own
apartment at Casana Flats.
Speaker 6 (12:21):
Playing with Marinda was John Barnat and LaRue. Marcel stayed
with Cecilia downstairs. Marinda stayed in the living room and
that's where they killed, and she was sleeping d every
night after the Quler.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
On May tenth, twenty sixteen, Anthony Schofield, a financial broker
that Marenda had worked with in the past, got a call. LaRue,
using a fake name and a cheap SIM card, set
the appointment through Schofield's wife and bookkeeper, Heather. They were
to meet their prospective client at key West, a shopping
center and krugers Dorp. Here's Colonel Christelle Boison, who spoke
(13:02):
to Anthony's wife.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Mister Sheffield, informed us that on the day of the murder,
she was actually packing the caravan because her and a
husband would have gone on this long camping trip on
the first one that they've taken for a very long while,
and Shelfield was just attending his last appointment before they
would have left for the Strip. He did leave, but
(13:24):
he never came back.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
LaRue called Schofield right at their meeting time six o'clock,
saying he had a crisis. He asked if Schofield could
come to his place for the meeting instead, the address
seventeen Cassana. Schofield obliged and was surprised when he arrived
in saw Marinda there. Good grief, you live here too,
(13:49):
he said. They acted fast, holding him at gunpoint a
thirty eight special this time until he handed over his
bank card and pin into ordered Marcel and John Barnard
to go to the ATM down the street and make
sure the pin number worked. Cash in hand, they headed back.
Schofield was dead by the time they returned, John and
(14:13):
LaRue wrapped his body in a black plastic bag and
carried it down the stairs, grabbing his car keys on
the way out. They placed the body in his trunk
or the boot as they call it, and abandoned his
Honda a few streets away, leaving the keys in the ignition,
hoping that a desperate person might steal the car with
(14:33):
the body in it. Maritzka coats there recalls the day
law enforcement found his body.
Speaker 3 (14:41):
Anthony Schorefield was murdered. It was my first off day
in months. So my contact, you know, she sends men Macy.
She's like, listen here an elderly man murdered, found in
his boot. You know you need to write the story.
Speaker 4 (14:55):
Tired but committed to her work, Maritzka drove to the
scene first.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Time, pissed off because it's my off days, but out
of curiosity, I drove to the school where his body
was found. Tried to see if I could find anything.
You know, because when you write as a journalist, you know,
you get familiar with your community, You get familiar with
the crimes, You start understanding things.
Speaker 4 (15:18):
Although Krueger's door had a lot of crime, this one
felt bizarre.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
So it immediately stood out to me because obviously I
was writing crime a lot, so I knew which stop
of crime happened in what area. And this was really
a weird crime. You know, who does this? You know,
kill someone, leaves them in their boot, leaves the keys
in the car, and I mean this was introducedov North.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
Over the next few days, the killers went back and
withdrew the daily maximum allowance until the card was eventually canceled.
Speaker 6 (15:49):
And then just around the corner is which Eddy after
they killed him, they came here and they bought meat
from this place to have a party.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
LaRue used him share to pick something up from Marcel.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
Luru bought some Houdis for im and his sister a
disk shop. Yah, And that's all of Skullfield's money.
Speaker 4 (16:12):
This was epd's biggest score, only providing them with about
sixteen thousand, six hundred rand, still only about eight hundred
and seventy five US dollars, all going directly to Cecilia.
This would be their pattern moving forward. The ease and
immediacy of it appealed to Cecilia. Two would hold the
(16:33):
victim at gunpoint, while others would go to the ATM
and drain their accounts. Then their victim would be killed,
their body disappeared, human lives disposed of with barely his
second thought. Luckily, for the people of Krugersdorp, money leaves
a trail. On May twenty sixth, about two weeks after
(17:04):
Schofield's life was taken, the body of a young man,
Kevin McAlpine, was discovered in one of Kruegersdorp's most dangerous neighborhoods.
Kevin was also a financial advisor. Only twenty nine years old,
he'd recently celebrated his first wedding anniversary. His wife, Keziah,
was seven months pregnant. Kevin had been actively looking for
(17:27):
a new job as well, making a career change before
becoming a father. He promised Kezia that this would be
his last appointment for a while. They couldn't say no
to a potential client. Here's Christell again.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
McAlpine wasn't supposed to attend the appointment that first found
another broker, but he's not working in that business anymore.
But he has a friend that would appreciate their business,
and he then, not knowing, is sending someone else to
his death, passed the appointment on to Mac Alpine.
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Unfortunately, he crossed paths with Queen Havoc's band of wayward huntsman.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
When Kevin was murdered, that was the turning point, the
first turning point.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
Meritzka was called to the scene that night as well.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
It's eleven o'clock at night. I'm sleeping. My phone rings.
My contact says, hey, pop up, Stone up ons it alike,
So that roughly translates to hey, girl, get up, we've
got a body.
Speaker 4 (18:29):
She makes her way there. A large crowd surrounds Kevin's
open trunk.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
So now I think to myself, oh fucking know. Now
I'm gonna get you chased off the scene, because usually
that's what happens, you know, the family they don't want
the journalist day.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
But then she's approached by someone.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
So now this man comes. He isn't tears, and he
says to me, Marisco, thank goodness you are here. Now
I'm like, how does this man know my name? And
he grabs me and he's crying, and he says, it's
Kevin in the boots, even in the boot.
Speaker 4 (19:01):
Confused but present, Maritska tries to make sense of this.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Okay, now I know the victim's name. But it still
didn't add up. And then he said, what will you
are Nates say about that? So you are Nita Skeavin's mother,
I swear to you, know, like they say when it
feels like a brick walls fall on you. It was
that moment because then I realized that I knew that
person in that boot, you know, like it was the
(19:25):
most bizarre feeling in the world.
Speaker 4 (19:27):
Maritzka is a well known journalist who, like Yanna and Ben,
wrote a book on the Kruger Store of Killings. It's
called Outcast. Over the course of her reporting, she became
a close confidant to LaRue more on that soon. She's
a warm presence. She has an infectious laugh and vibrant energy,
and this spade of murders had become personal for her,
(19:49):
too close for comfort.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
You get so used to writing about people you don't know,
writing nice stories, sad stories you know, but you don't
often get to write about you old mother's base friends. Son.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
Epd's next victim was discovered four days later, on May thirtieth,
twenty sixteen, a woman, this time breaking epd'sm just slightly.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
The next murder was Hanley Lauterogan.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Mirinda had made an appointment with Hanley Lattigan for three PM,
claiming she was looking to purchase a new home and
she had one favor to ask, though Mirinda said her
car was in the shop and asked Hanley if she
could swing by and pick her up on the way
to the house. The morning of May thirty first, twenty sixteen,
(20:40):
was the last time Hanley's husband saw her alive. She
was fifty two years old. Ritzka didn't know Honley personally,
but Kevin McAlpine's sister did.
Speaker 3 (20:52):
I remember the night when she went missing. Kavin's sister
actually sent me a message on ficebook saying, Marisco, look
what's going on on? You must help them. It's busy
happening again.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
While Mirinda held Honley lot again at gunpoint, Honley had
cleverly managed to transfer the large sum to her husband,
knowing this would trigger an alert on his phone, which
it did. Soon after, the husband also received a phone
call from Honley's colleague wondering why she hadn't shown up
at the house she was supposed to be showing to Mirinda.
(21:26):
Her husband made a frantic call to authorities, and a
search party began. Tragically, it was too late for Honley.
Speaker 6 (21:34):
School to them. That was on the way to school
founded the next morning next to the right.
Speaker 4 (21:41):
I must admit it's a bit nauseating to tick through
these murders so quickly. The weight of these tragic events
is not lost on us. Our aim here is to
avoid walking you through too much more brutality and refocus
our lens on the light at the end of the tunnel.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
This is not Kruguzdop police area. This is the Antantine
policing area. So they will open the kaise yeah, and
the cases will not be linked to Kruguzdolt.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
Hanley's body was found dumped in Randfontein. That's another interesting
break in epd's pattern. Randfontaine is the next town over
from Krugersdorp, but technically falls in another district covered by
another police force. Sicili and Morinda were now fully relying
on sloppy police work and their inside connections to get
(22:34):
away with literal murder. But the day after Hanley's murder
June one, twenty sixteen, Brigadier Many Victor walked into the
krugersdor police station. Three rapid fire murders had taken place,
and the citizens of Krugersdorp were outraged. Brigadier Many Victor
(22:57):
was already a veteran officer by then and was no
for his work in intelligence. We spoke with him on
the ground in South Africa.
Speaker 11 (23:05):
There was a huge outcry in the Kyugozstal community, people
thinking this a serial murderer on the loose. People were
marching to the police station and they were demanding actions
and so forth. So the day after the third murder,
which was Hardy lot I, walked into the Kyugozstal police station.
Speaker 4 (23:28):
Brigadier Victor immediately began assembling a task team of highly
skilled investigators to help crack this high priority case. The
members of this task force referred to their operation as
the war room. This term implied to the public that
they were taking the situation seriously, treating the investigation with
(23:49):
the urgency and the severity it deserved.
Speaker 8 (23:53):
When Moni came on board at that point, he was
the head of our crime intelligence and I mean they
were slacking and he had to war room. We all
different disciplines within the police came together and that's where
it actually realized, Okay, you know what, you have something,
I have something. I think to some things all connected
in some way.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Besides the obvious proximity of the murders and the signature
methods of kill and disposal, the Brigadier immediately noticed a
common trait among the latest victims of the kruger Storp
serial killings.
Speaker 11 (24:22):
All of them were financial bocus. So the three murders
were linked in the Saints so that the target was
people that I used to working after. I was meeting
people and strange places, taking them to have discussions or
to cl so, whatever the case may be.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
This made them perfect marks for EPD, just like you
were me. They were simply earning their scratch, making a living,
not knowing that they were scheduling appointments for their own demise.
The day Hanley went missing, her husband had alerted more
than just the police, He had the full support of
the local community. Here is Detective Vinen Vinter, who worked
(25:06):
within the Ranfontein district.
Speaker 5 (25:08):
The night Honorly disappeared, I got a phone call from
a missing persons organization by the name of Pink Ladies.
We then liaised with Brigadier Mooni and the following morning
we got a message that a body was found in
the Renfuntin area.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Detective Vinter's commander at the time was Lieutenant Colonel Eric Krueger.
Speaker 12 (25:34):
My station was then Rene Fontaine as a group commander.
Speaker 4 (25:37):
Detective Krueger's expertise is in tracing suspects, so when he
noticed that other bodies had been found not so far away,
he contacted Brigadier Manny Victor, who then tapped the two
of them to become part of his war room effort.
There were new cops, now trustworthy ones, and they were communicating,
(25:58):
finally beginning to connect the dots.
Speaker 5 (26:01):
The Brigadier then decided it would be best to get
a toss team up and running, since these guys is
on are being committed in a regular time frame.
Speaker 4 (26:10):
While the two starting officers began digging for evidence, Brigadier
Victor continued to build his task team. He called the
most dogged cop that he knew.
Speaker 6 (26:20):
You can't become a policeman for money because there is
no money in the police to look into victims' family's
eyes when as in the criminal degild tears coming out
of their eyes and hugging me and thanked me for
assisting to get justice. It's much higher than he is.
Slary that any person can can pay you. That's why
(26:43):
I became a cop.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
The task team became a pack of bloodhounds, and Ben
Boysen was the top dog, leading their charge, closing in
on the devil's trail. Detective Ben Boysen spent most of
his adult life in Kruger's Tour. He was a member
(27:08):
of a special unit called the Hawks for many years.
It targets corruption and organized crime. Before he received the
call from Manny Victor, he already knew about the nameless
fear that stalked his town, and he watched his Facebook
became the new town square.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
When the three appointments dealings happened in Kruguzdor, the people
went on Facebook and they say, yeh, this need to
stop now because all the people feared to get out
of the houses at night and stuff like that. And
somebody said on Facebook they wish they they can get
a good cope now to investigate this.
Speaker 4 (27:45):
Despite Ben's calling to serve and protect, he still knew
what he would be up against should he get involved.
Speaker 6 (27:53):
I wish I can do it, but sometimes you need
to watch what you wish for because it can come true.
Speaker 4 (28:02):
On June sixth, Ben agreed to lead the sprawling Murder
investigation under one condition.
Speaker 6 (28:08):
So I said, I will take over the investigation, but
I'll do it on my own.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
Ben was under no illusions about what to expect from
local cops. He echoed a sentiment that we in the
US are unfortunately all too familiar with many overworked, underpaid,
and undertrained cops are punching the clock in a broken system.
Speaker 6 (28:31):
Saving six seven cops out to seven or eight different
people to take statements and stuff. Some way, somebody is
going to do not mention stuff in a statement, and
you're going to lose your golden threat in the investigation.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
I love that image. A golden thread, a through line,
a theme, a pattern, an m o Here's detective violent Winter.
Speaker 5 (29:00):
We realized that certain other murders that was committed prior
at the same murders of Barandi, where people will will
be called for an appointment, and after the appointment I disappeared.
Speaker 4 (29:13):
Thankfully, Ben had Manny's rock solid team of road tested
investigators helping him dig for evidence. Maybe in this case
they were the exception. But in order to keep hold
of that golden thread of his detective poison, did accept
the full weight of responsibility on this investigation, and he
(29:34):
knew he could rely on himself to see it through
or die trying. Meanwhile, laying low at Cassana Flats, Secilia
and Mirinda, with the help of John Barnard, planned their
next hit. More insurance, fraud, more murder, more Mayhem was
on the horizon for EPD, and Zach Valentine was still
(29:58):
in hiding. He had taken shelter with a Christian ministry
in a neighboring district. Cecilia was too blinded by her
lust for money and power to see what was coming.
The war she had waged against her fellow humans, the
spell she had cast on her followers was about to boomerang.
(30:18):
Just as Cecilia had taken down Rhea by attacking those
close to her, the police would infiltrate Cecilia's in her
circle and break the very people she had scared. In
the submission, as Detective Ben Boysen got acquainted with the
details of the killings, neither he nor the war room
(30:39):
officers had any idea how many murderers they were dealing with.
But then there was a breakthrough. Here's Detective Vinter.
Speaker 5 (30:47):
Normally, when money east withdrawn from ATM over a certain amount,
the ATM will actually capture a photograph of you.
Speaker 4 (30:59):
After trying angulating some cell phone data, the task team
had narrowed their search to focus on West Kruger's store.
They retrieved the CCTV footage from the ATMs that corresponded
with the three victims withdrawals around the time of their deaths.
The images were blurry, but the police could tell that
the suspects were young, possibly even teenagers. Then one of
(31:22):
HRT Kruger's sources pointed out that the suspects looked a
lot like Merinda Stein's kids, the same Arendu Stein that
had been brought in for questioning in the aftermath of
more than one homicide. Here's Detective Vinter, who was busy
in the war room.
Speaker 5 (31:39):
We then did a social media profiling on them. We
were actually went in and had a look at the
relevant social media the facebooks with the other counts. Add
to actually obtaining all the photographs that can be used
for comparison purposes.
Speaker 4 (31:58):
With not much more than blurry footage and a potential
social media photo comparison, detective Krueger took a field trip.
Speaker 12 (32:06):
I just was curious to see what the two children
look like. You know, are they the same that I've
got on my video footage.
Speaker 4 (32:13):
When he knocked on the door, burn the answered. Surprisingly,
she didn't seem alarmed or even averse to talking to him.
Speaker 12 (32:20):
I didn't went to the flat that morning whom Miranda
was staying, and I interviewed, asked her about the children
and said, we're doing investigation. Did they mind to come
to the police station for photos. I was taking a
big chance because I know actually reason't for them to
come in.
Speaker 4 (32:41):
He was stunned when his gambit actually paid off.
Speaker 12 (32:44):
She found me about two o'clock that afternoon and sit
waiting for us at the police station. I couldn't believe it.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
Marinda assumed the cops would never put together a legitimate
case against her or her children, or Cecilia or any
of the others. For years, local police failed to do
exactly that. Why would it be any different this time?
Speaker 12 (33:08):
So they came in. Now what we called is a
controlled photo and an uncontrolled photo. The uncontrolled photo will
be the photo from the ATM, and the control one
will be when you asked him to stand in a
similar way that the photo on the video foot Teacher
look luck and they were very cooperative. I couldn't believe
(33:31):
myself it's actually happening.
Speaker 4 (33:38):
The golden thread was starting to shine through the bramble.
On the day Hanley was murdered, Marcel received an acceptance
letter to medical school. Here's Detective Susette recalling the harsh
reality that Marcel was facing. She took out her frustrations
in her diary.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
She was actually a very, very cleave a girl with
distinctions in all her subjects. And at the back of
this diary she wrote, in big letters, I don't know
why my mother is doing this to me.
Speaker 4 (34:12):
When Marinda heard that Marcel got into school, she flew
into her rage. Marcell pleaded with her mother, but Marinda
would hear nothing of it. When Marcel wouldn't let it go,
her mother threatened to get rid of her, just as
they had gotten rid of Mikayla. Here's Maritzka again.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
And Laru told me straight up that Mikhayla's murder was
always the example. You know, I like to say that
the same can happen to you.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Marenda threatened LaRue as well when he resisted killing Hamley.
There was a lot of back and forth between Marinda
and Harmley while they negotiated money.
Speaker 1 (34:47):
Out of her.
Speaker 4 (34:49):
When it came time to end her life, LaRue begged
his mother not to make him do it.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
He called Hanley a tenny, so that's like an auntie
and an elderly woman in Afrikaans, and he couldn't get
it off of his heart to kill at Tenny. And
then his mom actually turned the gun on him and says, listen,
if you're not going to kill her, I'm going to
kill you, and I'm going to kill her anyway.
Speaker 4 (35:14):
LaRue later told Maritzka that Cecilia grew increasingly ruthless leading
up to the final appointment murder. By that point, EPD
had a kill list, which included LaRue's father. LaRue had
recently started to rebuild this relationship.
Speaker 6 (35:29):
He was trying to convince his father he wants to
be part of his life again.
Speaker 4 (35:34):
How did Cecilia respond. She told LaRue to take out
a life insurance policy, two in fact, one for his
father and one for himself. LaRue was now on high alert,
but he continued to follow orders and scheduled a fishing
trip with his estrange father. It happened to fall on
the day after Marinda brought her children in to be
(35:55):
photographed by the cops that morning. Placing worms on a hook,
Laru floated the life insurance policy idea to his father,
but this conversation would be interrupted.
Speaker 6 (36:12):
That's why he was they when he was arrested, because
he was trying to convince his father that he can
take a policy out on his father's life.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
On July twenty third, twenty sixteen, LaRue Stein was arrested.
He was sitting by a damn fishing with his father
when the police descended. LaRue was apprehended just outside a
krueger stor and handed over to Manny Victor's task team.
(36:45):
The prosecutor then charged the twenty year old with kidnapping, robbery,
and three counts of murder. Later that same day, police
busted down Merinda's door at Cassano Flats to arrest Marcel.
When they searched their belongings, they found a baseball cap
and dog PAGs that matched the ones I did in
(37:06):
the CCTV footage. As they rummaged through the apartment, one
of the arresting officers spied a pot plant on the
back porch. Marijuana was still illegal in South Africa at
the time. Since it was Merinda's home, they cuffed her
and threw her in the paddy wagon too. When questioned,
(37:27):
Marcel and LaRue obediently stuck to their rehearsed story. Detective
Ben Boysen says the police didn't really have much evidence
to go on.
Speaker 6 (37:35):
The geis is that the police have against them is
only they wind and throw the money of the deceased
and Marcelle's explanation day off was that Brady got it
from the Nigerians and the Nigerians gave him the Panamas
and they will only was supposed to go and throw
the money for the Nigerians.
Speaker 4 (37:57):
In South Africa, Nigerians is most often and unfortunate post
apart hide shorthand for drug dealers. In just three weeks time,
Manny Victor's War Room put Marinda, Marcel and LaRue all
behind bars, just in time to save the life of
a local doctor who is the next scheduled victim from
(38:19):
their ever growing kill list. This investigation might seem slow
given the CCTV footage, but this pace was impressive when
compared to the way cases were typically managed in American movies.
Speaker 6 (38:33):
That they might you know, there's a murder and there's
a lot of cops investigating it and within African two
or three weeks, everybody's rated. And in South Africa doesn't
work like that. If you get a kiss, you investigated,
nobody else assisted you investigated.
Speaker 4 (38:49):
Detective Ben Boysen is an old school type, a man
of service and honor. He's a cop because he had
a calling, and he's also the author of On the
Devil's Trail, How I hunted down the Kruger Store of Killers.
Speaker 6 (39:02):
The biggest problem that most of the policemen do and
they investigate the crime where Sism is involved, and I
want to investigates.
Speaker 11 (39:11):
Is not the crime.
Speaker 6 (39:12):
It's a religion, so it's not against the Luan. So
you still need to focus on on the murder.
Speaker 4 (39:23):
Unlike prior special investigators, Detective Ben Boysen wasn't the least
bit captivated by the sealacious. He had no time for
the supernatural. He came to solve crimes, not to speculate
about witches and blood drinkers. Ben Boisen was a dogged cop.
His heart was in it, fully committed to bringing justice
(39:44):
to the wronged and peace to the grieving. However, this
case would test even him. Mirinda would once again find
her way out of police custody, and the task team
would continue to search for the conductor of this cacophony,
Queen Havoc herself. This time, Mirinda and Cecilia had officially
(40:07):
met their match detected. Ben Boyson would not rest until
the killing ceased.
Speaker 6 (40:16):
That is the school way Maranda used to teach. When
did she stop teaching when I arrested her.
Speaker 4 (40:27):
On the next episode of Queen Havoc.
Speaker 6 (40:30):
Le Rustaine made a confession.
Speaker 8 (40:33):
They managed to id him as Zach Valentine.
Speaker 6 (40:37):
For a young boy like that picking up a date
person and allowed him into a vehicle. It's totally not possible.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
She wasn't involved in any actual killing.
Speaker 6 (40:48):
She used the people to do it for her while
I was speaking to him in prison. I've got the
scenes that is predicting the people around him.
Speaker 4 (41:01):
Queen Havoc and Her Murder Cult is a production of
Schooly Humans and iHeart Podcasts. Queen Havoc is hosted and
created by me Kurt Kupachick, produced and written by Jennifer Takeiny,
Julia Chriscau, and Kurt Kupachick. Lead producer is Julia Chriska.
Story editor is Saren Burnett. Senior producer is Amelia Brock.
(41:24):
Production manager is Daisy Church. Original music composed by Claire Campbell, Editing,
sound design and scoring by Jesse Niswanger, Additional editing by
Miranda Hawkins. Associate producers are DaShan Moodley and Jamaine Krier.
Additional producing by Ben Melman, fact checking by Dennis Webster.
(41:48):
Recording engineers are Graham Gibson, Clay Hillenberg and Josh Hook.
Executive producers are Virginia Prescott, L. C. Crowley, Brandon Barr,
Jennifer Takini and Kurt Kupachak. We want to thank all
of those who so generously welcomed us in South Africa
and shared their stories. We're incredibly grateful to you all.
(42:12):
We also want to acknowledge how traumatic these events are
for the victims and their families. Please respect their privacy.
If you or someone you know has been affected by
cult behaviors, there are resources available, including voices for Dignity
at Christine Murray dot com
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