317:. As the policeman walked him to the police station, Vilakazi's rape victim, who happened to be in the area, alerted the officer that Vilakazi raped him. The criminal's DNA was then taken, and he was subsequently connected to both the rape and the murders. He then confessed to his crimes, claiming that the devil ordered him to kill people. However, the occult unit of the police department later interviewed him and concluded that the murders were not satanically motivated. A mental evaluation also determined that he did not suffer from any
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On 19 October 2012, Vilakazi approached two men and offered to buy them food. One of the men declined the offer, but the other, an 18-year-old, followed
Vilakazi. Once they reached a secluded area, Vilakazi threatened the man with a knife and forced him to walk under a bridge, where he robbed him of
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At 1:00 p.m. on 11 November 2005, Vilakazi fatally stabbed 11-year-old
Raipela Aaron Masango in the torso and neck with a knife. Unlike the previous victims, Masango was not undressed and instead found in his school uniform. He was also killed in a different area than the other victims. Because
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In July 2005, Vilakazi allegedly murdered Moses Cibi, a black man, by stabbing him 17 times in the left side of the chest. Although the man died on the grass next to the railway, Vilakazi dragged his body onto the train tracks and stole his shoes before fleeing the scene. Cibi's body was discovered
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received instructions from the underworld to kill the three people which I then complied with.” At court, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for
Masango's murder and 18 years each for the adults' murders. The judge also ordered him to attend psychotherapy and a sex offender programme in prison.
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near the first victim. She had been stabbed in the neck and right shoulder, and her clothes had been strewn about the area. However, due to the victim's gender, investigators are unsure if her murder is linked to
Vilakazi, or if it was just coincidental. After detectives investigated the cases and
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On 23 July 2005, another body was found beside train tracks at the Belle Ombre Plaza. The victim, an unknown man, died from 54 stab wounds to the chest, back, and arm. The victim's clothes had been found at the scene, but not on him, and there had been no stab wounds through the clothes. His shoes
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Vilakazi was charged with the unidentified man's murder, Mokaba's murder, and
Masango's murder. He entered a guilty plea, stating, “there are two kinds of people on Earth; those bearing the mark of the lamb, and those with the beast’s sign. I receive instructions from the beast on who to kill. I
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next to the body. At the time, detectives were uncertain whether the message was written by the perpetrator or if it was unrelated to the case. Vilakazi later confessed to being behind the message, claiming to have written it because he wanted to murder seven more people.
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On 11 August 2005, Vilakazi stabbed
Michael Mokaba, another black man, 24 times in the neck and top-left chest, killing him. Mokaba tried to run away, but Vilakazi caught up to him, stripped him of his clothes, and murdered him. His body was discovered near the
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In 2013, he was arrested for a rape he committed the previous year, and was subsequently connected to the murders through DNA. Two years later, he pleaded guilty to three murders and was sentenced to life imprisonment as well as an additional 36 years.
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typically consisted of undressing his victims, excessively stabbing them to the point of death, and taking their shoes. Although he claimed the murders were motivated by satanism, experts disputed this and alleged that they were sexually-motivated.
264:, over the road from where the last victim was found. DNA was on the scene, but the authorities could not match it to any known suspects. They also found an area where someone, likely the perpetrator, had been occupying. There, police found a
224:. Little is known about his childhood. He dropped out of school in 10th grade, was not married, did not have any children, and was unemployed at the time of his arrest. At some point, he got "666" and "satanist"
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until they realized the nature of the wounds. The man's clothes were found in a bush nearby, and there were no stab wounds through the clothing, meaning that Cibi had been undressed prior to the stabbing.
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of the dissimilarities, the case was not linked to the others. Investigators found DNA on the knife handle, but they did not test it against the DNA found at the Mokaba crime scene.
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In the winter of 2013, Vilakazi was walking when he saw a policeman heading to work. After he acted suspiciously, the officer searched him and found
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after it was hit by a train. Investigators initially believed his death to have been accidental or a
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found no leads, the six-person task force was disbanded, and they moved on to other cases.
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on his forehead. He also had several other satanic tattoos on his chest and back.
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were also missing. The phrase "7 left" was written in red on a
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who murdered at least three black males along the railways of
427:"Man with 666 tattooed on forehead jailed for triple murders"
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Llewellyn, Paul; Labuschagne, Gerard (16 January 2023).
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220:Vilakazi was born between 1981 and 1982 in
583:People convicted of murder by South Africa
301:his phone and money. Afterwards, Vilakazi
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359:"Family finds closure after boy's murder"
50:1981 or 1982 (age 42–43)
578:South African people convicted of murder
603:Crimes involving Satanism or the occult
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335:List of serial killers in South Africa
496:"Satanist serial killer to hear fate"
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573:21st-century South African criminals
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471:. South Africa: Got Your Black Media
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203:between July and November 2005. His
369:from the original on 9 January 2022
275:The next victim was a black female
527:"'Why didn't Satanists help him?'"
525:Nkosi, Nomaswazi (6 August 2015).
494:Nkosi, Nomaswazi (5 August 2023).
391:Nkosi, Nomaswazi (6 August 2015).
357:Import, Pongrass (6 August 2015).
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187:(born 1981–1982), also known as
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598:Violence against men in Africa
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568:South African serial killers
283:, whose corpse was found in
16:South African serial killer
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588:South African LGBTQ people
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315:drugs in his possession
393:"EYE FOR AN EYE – MOM"
309:Arrest and prosecution
270:pornographic magazines
191:, is a South African
185:Themba "666" Vilakazi
465:"The Railway Killer"
69:"The Railway Killer"
272:among other items.
130:Span of crimes
189:The Railway Killer
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563:1980s births
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479:– via
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262:Pretoria Zoo
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142:South Africa
79:Incarcerated
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408:PressReader
552:Categories
341:References
277:sex worker
222:Soshanguve
124:1 survived
122:3–5 killed
109:+ 36 years
54:Soshanguve
593:Satanists
303:sodomized
281:Sunnyside
134:2005–2012
536:18 March
505:18 March
475:18 March
469:PROFILER
439:18 March
402:19 March
373:18 March
367:Archived
329:See also
285:Brooklyn
226:tattooed
201:Pretoria
197:satanist
148:State(s)
58:Pretoria
481:YouTube
253:sleeper
244:suicide
237:Murders
160:Weapons
153:Gauteng
139:Country
119:Victims
114:Details
432:News24
363:Rekord
232:Crimes
164:Knives
96:Murder
305:him.
279:from
266:cross
71:"666"
538:2023
507:2015
477:2023
441:2023
404:2023
375:2023
296:Rape
268:and
195:and
174:2013
98:(x3)
47:Born
41:2016
531:IOL
500:IOL
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