Man who found body on beach blasts cop methods
By Sam Mkokeli
Source: The Herald Online
THE British tourist who called the police to the scene of the execution-style murder of Johan le Grange at a nudist Port Elizabeth beach at the weekend, has blasted them for not taking a statement from him.
Speaking from Johannesburg yesterday, Tony Smith, 39, said he had gone for a walk on the beach at 9.10am on Saturday. He spotted a pair of binoculars lying next to Mr Le Grange’s red Golf.
He decided to investigate, saw the car had been broken into and called the police.
“They came in 10 to 15 minutes, but no statements have been taken. Is that normal? After all, I was the first person to call them,” he said.
Mr Smith, who now lives in Wales, lived in Port Elizabeth for 14 years, working in the construction industry.
He left South Africa last year “because of crime”.
Mr Le Grange’s body was found at the remote beach between Noordhoek and Cape Recife – a known haunt of homosexual men. There was a bullet wound in the back of his head.
The beach is apparently also a regular haunt of perlemoen poachers – and police say they could have believed Mr Le Grange was spying on them.
The police promised to investigate Mr Smith’s claims.
