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Themba
Anton SUKUDE
A.K.A.: "The Newcastle serial murderer"
Classification:
Serial killer
Characteristics:
Rape - Robberies
Number of victims: 4
Date of murders: 2004 - 2005
Date of birth: 1975
Victims profile: Men
Method of murder:
Beating with
rocks
Location: Pietermaritzburg,
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Status: Sentenced to five life sentences in prison (minimum
25 years) on April 24, 2006
Shrink
sinks serial killer
April
25, 2006
A Newcastle serial
murderer and rapist became the first person in South Africa to be
convicted of crimes attributed to him only by a psychologist's linkage
analysis.
Themba Sukude was convicted on Tuesday of two murders and two rapes
after witnesses testified against him.
However, no "conventional" evidence was given against Sukude for an
additional two murders and an aggravated robbery.
The
linkage analysis was accepted by Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge
Vivienne Niles-Duner who heard evidence against Sukude to convict him of
six crimes and, at the same time, convict him on the strength of the
linkage analysis which described his criminal pattern of behaviour.
The
psychologist, Dr Gerard Labuschagne, said that Sukude had been creeping
up on couples having sex, bludgeoning the heads of the men and then
raping the women.
The
crimes were committed in Newcastle's Trim Park from February 2003 to
January 2005.
'Revolting in the extreme'
Niles-Duner said that Sukude, 31, should never be released from prison.
"Your
murders were committed in a way which revolts in the extreme.
"You
left the two women you raped traumatised and scarred for life, not only
for the rapes but for the ghastly circumstances before the rapes.
"You
have shown no respect for human life," she said.
Labuschagne, of the investigative psychology unit of the police's
serious and violent crimes head office, said that linkage analysis was a
powerful tool in the detection and prosecution of serial murderers and
rapists.
The
discipline could be used to identify which murders and rapes were
committed by one person.
A
serial murderer was one who had murdered at least two people at
different times and often these murders had a sexual component.
Behaviour varies with experience
Typically, such offenders did not stop until arrested, and they
continued to commit crimes in spite of police investigations.
Their
behaviour could vary with their experience, intelligence and motivation.
As
with many other human behaviours, the repetitive nature of their crimes
gave them a sense of familiarity and control that allowed them to focus
more intently on sexual and/or aggressive motives as the crimes
continued.
News24.com
Serial killer "was identified"
May 3, 2006
Serial murderer and
rapist Themba Sukude of Newcastle, who was convicted in Pietermaritzburg
High Court on four counts of murder, was identified as the assailant in
two murders.
Judge
Vivienne Niles-Duner, who heard the case, has pointed out that his
conviction was not based on a forensic psychologist's linkage analysis,
but on the fact that Sukude had been identified.
The
surrounding facts and circumstances of two subsequent murders - the
third and fourth killings - bore such a striking similarity to the first
two murders as to lead to the irresistible inference that he was the
perpetrator.
'Linkage analysis' traps serial
killer
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
Tue, 25 Apr 2006
A Newcastle serial murderer and rapist on
Tuesday became the first person in South Africa to be convicted
of crimes attributed to him only by a psychologist's linkage
analysis.
He was convicted on Tuesday of two murders and
two rapes after witnesses testified against him.
However, no "conventional" evidence was given
against him for an additional two murders and an aggravated
robbery.
The linkage analysis was accepted by
Pietermaritzburg high court judge Vivienne Niles-Duner who heard
evidence against the accused to convict him of six crimes and at
the same time convict him on the strength of the linkage
analysis which described his criminal pattern of behaviour.
The psychologist, Dr Gerard Labuschagne, said
that through linkage analysis, the serial criminal, Themba
Sukude, had committed the atrocities by creeping up on
copulating couples, suddenly bludgeoning the heads of the men
and then raping the women.
The crimes were committed in the Newcastle Trim
Park from February 2003 to January 2005.
Niles-Duner said that Sukude, 31, should never
be released from prison.
"Your murders were committed in a way which
revolts in the extreme. You left the two women you raped
traumatised and scarred for life, not only for the rapes but for
the ghastly circumstances before the rapes.
"You have shown no respect for human life," she
said.
Labuschagne, of the investigative psychology
unit of the police's serious and violent crimes head office,
said that linkage analysis was a powerful tool in the detection
and prosecution of serial murderers and rapists.
The discipline could be used to identify which
murders and rapes were committed by one person.
A serial murderer was one who had murdered at
least two people at different times and often these murders had
a sexual component.
Typically such offenders did not stop until
arrested, and they continued to commit crimes in spite of police
investigations.
New 'powerful' tool in fight against crime
April 26 2006
Psychological linkage analysis, accepted
on Tuesday for the first time in South African legal history by the
Pietermaritzburg High Court to convict a serial murderer and rapist,
gives investigators and prosecutors a powerful tool in their fight
against crime.
Police psychologist Gerard Labuschagne
told The Mercury this on Tuesday after the conviction and sentencing of
Newcastle serial rapist and murderer, Themba Sukude, 31, who was given
five life terms by Judge Vivienne Niles-Duner.
Labuschagne told the court that Sukude's creeping up on couples engaged
in sex, battering the heads of the male partners and then raping the
women were his "signature", tantamount to Sukude leaving his calling
card.
He said that linkage analysis could identify
which serial rapes and murders were committed by one person.
Sukude was convicted of six crimes after evidence was given against him
by witnesses.
However, in the same trial he was convicted of
two more murders and an aggravated robbery solely on the
strength of Labuschagne's linkage analysis also finding that he
had committed these crimes.
No physical
evidence was given and no witnesses testified against Sukude for the
additional murder and robbery counts.
Niles-Duner
imposed five life sentences on Sukude - four for murder and one for the
rape of a girl under the age of 16.
He also received
10 years' jail for another rape, 15 years on each of two counts of
aggravated robbery and 12 months for malicious damage to property.
The judge said she hoped Sukude would be kept in prison for the rest of
his life and ordered that he serve 25 years before being considered for
parole.
She said that the murders were revolting. He
had also left two rape victims traumatised and scarred for life,
not only by the rapes but also by the trauma caused by the
ghastly circumstances before them.
Labuschagne,
of the Serious and Violent Crimes head office, said a serial murderer
was someone who had murdered at least two people at different times.
Often, these murders had a sexual component.
Such criminals did not usually stop until they
were arrested, and continued perpetrating crimes despite police
activity.
Their behaviour could vary with
their experience, intelligence and motivation.
The repetitive nature of their crimes gave them
a sense of familiarity and control, and allowed them to focus
more intently on sexual and/or aggressive motives as the crimes
continued.
Serial offenders had "comfort zones"
and tended to operate in the same place or nearby, despite police
activity.
Serial murderers tended to keep to one method
of killing - Sukude used heavy rocks to bludgeon the heads of
four men in Newcastle's Trim Park from February 2004 to January
2005.
He had targeted black women to rape and his
murder victims were three Africans and one Indian.
Labuschagne had used various sources to arrive at his conclusion that
Sukude was the serial killer and rapist.
These
included consultations with the investigating officer, visits to the
crime scenes, police dockets, an interview with a victim, scientifically
accepted re-search, previous experience in serial crime investigations,
and post-doctoral research.
