‘ISIS-linked crooks beat British couple to death and fed their bodies to crocodiles in South Africa’
A British couple were beaten to death and their bodies thrown in front of crocodiles by a trio with alleged links to ISIS who then spent £37,000 on their credit cards, a court heard.
World-renowned botanists Rod Saunders, 74, and wife Rachel, 63, were labeled “a good hunt” when they scoured a mountain region in South Africa for rare seeds for their business.
Sayfudeen Aslam Del Vecchio, 41, his wife Bibi Fatima Patel, 30, and Malawian Mussa Ahmed Jackson, 35, were charged with their brutal robbery and murder.
They allegedly stuffed their bodies into their sleeping bags and drove to a bridge over a crocodile-infested river and threw them off and then used their credit cards at ATMs and a range of shops.
Their bodies were recovered days later, but it took months to identify them through DNA testing and post mortems were performed on both of the badly decomposed bodies to try to determine cause of death.
World-renowned botanists Rod Saunders (right), 74, and wife Rachel (left), 63, were labeled ‘a good hunt’ as they scoured a mountain region in South Africa for rare seeds for their business
Their bodies were recovered days later, but it took months to identify them through DNA testing and post-mortems were performed on both of the badly decomposed bodies to try to determine cause of death.
The victims’ Land Cruiser was recovered on Feb. 19 with a large amount of blood in the cargo hold that was later confirmed to belong to Dr Rachel Saunders, the court heard
A doctor told the court that examination of the bodies showed signs of “scavenger activity,” adding: “The damage to the bodies suggests that something may have fed on them.
‘For example, a crocodile due to the lost tissue on the arms, neck and chest. Once the bodies had been pushed into the banks, dogs and rats could have fed on them.”
They were said to have died of blunt force trauma.
Microbiologist Dr Rachel Saunders and horticulturist Rodney, who had been married for 30 years, spent six months a year in remote South African mountains searching for rare gladiolus seeds.
They sold them worldwide from their mail-order company Silverhill Seeds in Cape Town and traveled the world lecturing on them, only to be pounced on a fateful trip to a remote forest.
The Saunders left their home in Cape Town on February 4, 2018 to meet a BBC TV documentary film crew 900 miles inland in the Drakensberg Mountains to film an episode for Gardeners World.
They were interviewed by presenter Nick Bailey while looking for rare gladiolus seeds and a selfie taken by Mr Bailey and posted to his Twitter account and a photo taken by producer Robin Matthews were the last snaps of them alive.
After filming, they left the BBC team and headed for the Ngoye forest where they were targeted by the gang and reportedly tracked and ambushed, then kidnapped and brutally murdered.
The couple spent six months a year scavenging wild mountains and forests in search of sought-after seeds for their thriving global mail-order business, Silver Hill Seeds.
The Saunders were last seen by a BBC documentary film crew, who filmed them for an episode of Gardener’s World
Dr. Saunders and her husband Rod told an employee that on February 8, 2018, they headed for the Ngoye Forest Reserve, 90 miles north of Durban, but were never heard from again. The alarm was sounded on February 10
Durban High Court, where alleged murderers of British botanists Rod and Rachel Saunders are on trial for the brutal robbery and murder
The trio said to have ties to ISIS allegedly attacked and beat the pair to death with a blunt instrument, then stuffed them into their sleeping bags and threw them from a bridge to crocodiles below.
Their heavily decomposed and eaten bodies were found in the Tugela River in Ngoye Forest near Eshowe but could not be identified and were taken to local mortuaries where they were stored.
A full-scale police investigation into the couple was already underway after all contact with them was cut off and it wasn’t until months later when DNA testing was ordered on all unclaimed bodies in morgues that they were found.
They were last in contact with an employee on February 8, 2018, saying they were heading for the Ngoye Forest, 90 miles north of Durban, but were not heard from again and the alarm was raised two days later.
The court was told: ‘Around February 10, the investigating officer received information that Rodney Saunders and his wife Dr. Rachel Saunders had been kidnapped in the KwaZulu-Natal region.
On 13 February it was found that the defendants were withdrawing money from ATMs amounting to theft of R734,000 (£37,000) and there was a theft of their Toyota Land Cruiser and camping equipment.
“It is alleged that the defendant unlawfully and intentionally killed Rachel Saunders between February 10 and 15 in Ngoye Forest and unlawfully and intentionally killed Rodney Saunders between the same dates.”
The elite Hawks police squad had found a connection between Mr and Mrs Saunders’ cell phones and the suspects’ cell phones and arrested the three suspects and charged them with murder.
They also found ISIS pamphlets and flags at their homes and messages on their phones talking about “killing the kuffar” and saying that there is a couple in the forest who would make a “good hunt.”
The court heard: “On March 23, the third accused Jackson was arrested and made a statement that he was woken up at their home by Patel on February 10 and told him to meet Del Vecchio on the way.
Murdered British botanists Rod (left) and Rachel Saunders (center) on a walk with the Pacific Bulb Society
The tragic pair, seen here during another seed hunt with the Pacific Bulb Society, would have been targeted
Rod and Rachel Saunders on one of their many expeditions into the wilderness of the South African mountains to collect seeds for their global mail order gardening business in Cape Town
“Del Vecchio was in the Land Cruiser and Patel and Jackson followed him to the Tugela River Bridge where they helped him remove the sleeping bags from behind and throw them into the river with human bodies inside.”
The victim’s Land Cruiser was found on February 19 with large amounts of blood in it.
South African-born Rachel gained British citizenship when she married British-born Rod, and the couple traveled the world lecturing on their passion for South Africa’s gladiolus.
In 1995, Rod quit his job as nursery manager at the world famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and leading university microbiologist Rachel quit hers and they founded Silverhill Seeds.
It was a successful business that worked from home and employed staff to sell their seeds around the world and the pair spent six months a year camping in the wilderness gathering supplies to sell by mail order.
Married couple Del Vecchio and Patel and their lodger Jackson deny kidnapping, murder, robbery and robbery at Durban High Court.
The process continues.