Suicide by snake: Animal smuggler kills himself by letting one of his cobras bite him while under arrest in South Africa

A security guard committed suicide by snake by triggering his own deadly snakes to deliver fatal bites after being arrested by police in South Africa.

Marius Joubert, 28, died in agony after his illegally smuggled Indochinese Spitting Cobra and a second snake pumped deadly poison into his hand and wrist after he stuck his hand in their tanks.

The snake trader was fully aware that – since his cobra had been smuggled from Thailand, 5,000 miles away, to South Africa – there was no antivenom that could save his life.

The armed security officer realized that police were about to expose his illegal racket of importing illegal animals, which could see him spend 25 years behind bars.

So instead of enduring a long stint in a hellish prison, he imposed the death penalty on himself even while the police were present in his home.

The married security guard, seen by his bosses as an “exemplary employee”, was held for several days after being arrested for burglary and theft in his hometown.

Police in Hennenman, 160 kilometers north of Bloemfontein, had detained him for questioning and were about to take him back to his home to search for any proceeds of crime.

He realized they would find his vast menagerie in the house where he lived with his wife Chimonet, 26, and face serious charges under the Wildlife Act.

Officers took him in a marked car to the terraced house on the corner, unaware that a guest room, a bedroom, the living room and the hall were infested with more than 60 snakes.

They were shocked to also find a crocodile, iguanas, monitors, tarantulas, hedgehogs and ferrets, all kept warm by solar energy, special heating pads and fans.

It didn’t seem unusual to the officers when they took away his cuffs so he could reveal stolen property when he asked if he could feed the creatures he said would starve.

What they didn’t expect was that he would then use his own snakes to commit suicide.

A source close to the investigation said: ‘Joubert knew that sooner or later after his arrest the police would visit his house and they would find all these illegally kept creatures.

‘And he knew that the crimes he would then be accused of would be much more serious and that many of the snakes and animals he had could put him behind bars for 25 years.

‘He asked to feed his snakes and when the cuffs were off, he put his hands in two cages and was bitten on the wrist by two snakes and then tied up,

“We know that one of the snakes that bit him was an Indochinese Spitting Cobra, which would have put a huge load of venom in him, but we don’t know what the other snake was,” the source added.

‘An ambulance was called but Joubert refused treatment and said he would be fine. He was taken back to the police station and warned of further animal-related charges.

‘In the meantime, the paperwork for the burglary and theft had been completed and he was about to be released with a warning until his court appearance. Then he started looking very unwell,” they continued.

‘Then he collapsed and was taken to Bongani Hospital in Welcome in another ambulance, but because the spitting cobra is not native to South Africa, there was no anti-venom.

‘The venom is both a neurotoxin and a cytotoxin, meaning it closed his lungs and suffocated him, as well as causing severe bleeding and destroying his body tissues.

‘It was an extremely painful and gruesome way to end his life. It took about nine hours from the time the bite collapsed and another three hours before the snake’s venom killed it,” he said.

Captain Stephen Thakeng of the Free State Police confirmed that Joubert was taken to his home on Easter Saturday, March 30, to further investigate criminal charges.

He confirmed that his officers reported that Joubert had put his hand in two of the cages and that his actions were deliberate and that he intended to get himself bitten.

He said the suspect had been returned to the police station and charged and was due to be released pending an appearance at the Hennenman Magistrates Court on April 5.

Captain Thakeng added: ‘We were not aware of any poisonous snakes on the premises when we went to the address, but once inside he opened two cages and stuck his hand inside.

“It was intentional and he was bitten twice on the hands and later died in hospital.”

A police investigation has been launched into where the exotic pets came from and who the deceased man’s customers were.

An inquest has also been opened into his violent death.

The security guard faced a number of burglary and theft charges dating back to July after a private investigator turned evidence against him, leading to his first arrest.

The source said: ‘Whether he convinced police the snake was not poisonous I don’t know, but he did not appear to be in any distress until he suddenly collapsed.

“But he knew the snakes that bit him and knew there would be only one outcome. It was clearly suicide by snake. It was just waiting for the poison to kill him

‘He was in it up to his eyes for smuggling in exotic creatures without a permit and keeping them in cruel conditions, and he was facing multiple sentences of 25 years each.

‘It seems he wanted to take a different route and his spitting cobra took care of that. There is no blame for the police, who could not have imagined what he would do.

“The officer later called the hospital to check on him and was told he was dead,” he said.

The Bloemfontein Society for the Prevention of Cruelty for Animals was called in and found 70 illegally kept animals, most of them snakes, and called in snake removal experts.

Stephanus Fourie and David Hayter removed 62 snakes, including a variety of exotic and local cobras, mambas, anacondas, pythons, rattlesnakes, puff adders and vipers.

In addition to several deadly rink-neck snakes, there were also exotic hedgehogs and ferrets, a Nile crocodile, African bullfrogs, iguanas, Nile and Rock monitors and 3 sugar gliders.

They also carefully removed the two exotic Indochinese spitting cobras and said the one that bit Joubert was a full-grown adult, almost five feet long and very dangerous.

Bloemfontein SPCA Chief Inspector Reinet Meyer said: “The scenes in the house resembled a horror film with more than 70 wild animals, all seriously neglected.

“The animals were all taken to the Johannesburg Wildlife Veterinary Hospital by the SPCA by two snake catchers and are being examined and treated.

‘We hope to eventually cure as many native species as possible and return them to their natural habitat, but unfortunately the foreign exotic animals will have to be euthanized.

‘It is not our policy to house animals in zoos or in captivity, but only in the wild.

‘A number of animals and reptiles had already tragically succumbed to starvation and dehydration, had been severely neglected and were in poor health and will require significant care.

“This man would have been in much more trouble with the charges we would have filed for animal cruelty and keeping animals without a permit than for theft.

‘He deliberately put his hand in two cages and was bitten twice. We know one was the Indochinese Spitting Cobra, but we don’t know what the other species of snake was.

‘It’s clear he wanted to commit suicide using his snakes, but I would have preferred to see him in court because what he did to those animals and how he kept them was completely cruel.

‘Joubert was a real coward to commit suicide rather than face what he did to those animals. “It’s a shame that so many have to be euthanized because of him,” she said.

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