margaretha@publicy.nl, news@sky.com, news@newsday.com,
foxnewsonline@foxnews.com
04/08/2008 07:47 - (SA)
Virginia Keppler, Beeld
Pretoria - An elderly man from Doornpoort in Pretoria was shot several
times and his wife was assaulted early on Saturday morning, before
they were robbed.
Emilio Couto, 67, collapsed and died in a pool of blood where the
robbers shot him.
His wife, Maria, 59, tried to push the bedroom door closed while the
robbers fired shots through the door.
She said her husband's last words were: "No, my love."
The robbers broke the burglar bars on the kitchen window and then
unlocked the kitchen door.
Emilio woke up first. Maria said: "I heard him say, 'No, my love,' and
I woke up because I thought he was having a nightmare."
When she realised what was happening, she tried to push the bedroom door closed.
Then, it was quiet
"At that stage, I didn't realise that my husband wasn't in the room
with me anymore. Then I heard four shots as they were shooting at me
through the door."
Emilio was fighting the attackers outside the door. Maria said: "It
was God's hand that one of the shots did not hit me."
Maria said she heard shots again and then it was quiet. The robbers
then kicked the door open and hit her on the head and shoulder with a
firearm.
"I screamed and they shouted: 'Keep quiet, keep quiet.' They wanted to
know where our safe, guns and cellphones were. I said we didn't have a
safe or guns."
The robbers took the couple's four cellphones, some jewellery and a
laptop. They dropped the plasma-screen television and it broke.
After the robbers had fled, Maria pressed the panic button. She said
the security company, Computer Alarm, did not respond.
Took part in march
"Eighteen years ago, my mother Deloris de Freitas, 66, was murdered in
her house in Johannesburg.
"I even took part in the march against crime, but they (the murderers)
just come back," she said, crying.
"I had a wonderful husband. He was always protective and loving. I'm
going to miss him."
A suspect, who worked for the couple some time ago, has been taken in
for questioning.
An employee at Computer Alarms said the owners of the company were not
available for comment.
Source:News24
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_2369296,00.html
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