Warning: The post is graphic in nature and may upset sensitive readers.
Kyle Ruiters (photo: Screenshot/eNews video)
Kyle Ruiters (28) definitely has psychopathic characteristics and must be declared a dangerous criminal.
Ruiters was found guilty in the High Court in Cape Town on Tuesday of the murder of Lynette Volschenk (32) in August 2019. Ruiter was also found guilty on charges of desecration of a corpse and attempting to defeat justice.
The state has meanwhile requested that Ruiters be referred to the Valkenberg psychiatric hospital for 30-day observation after an initial report from the same institution stated that he had “definitely psychopathic characteristics”. If he is found guilty, the court must be informed that he can be declared a danger to the physical and mental welfare of others as stated in section 286A of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Volschenk was brutally murdered in her apartment in the Seesig apartment building in Welgemoed in Bellville. Her body was chopped up and stored in black bags.
Adv. Louise Friester, public prosecutor, said that the court must be convinced after receiving the report that Ruiters poses a danger and that the community must be protected from him before an appropriate sentence is imposed. Once he is declared a dangerous criminal, he will spend an indefinite period of time in prison before his condition must be assessed after a period of time to determine what his state of mind is and whether he is still a danger to society.
According to Eric Ntabazalila, spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Ruiters told the court in his guilty plea that he was a drug user and owed his drug dealer R30 000. The latter threatened him with serious consequences if he did not pay. He hatched a plan to kill someone in order to steal their valuables and sell them to pay his debts.
Riiters initially identified several possible victims after which he began to follow their movements and find out everything possible about them. He also monitored their social media activities. He did the same with Volschenk, making notes of his intention to kill her. He even set up a message for her family and friends in case they came looking for her. He did not post the message, but did keep it on his phone.
Lynette Volschenk (Photo: Facebook)
On the afternoon of August 21, 2019, he watched her walk to her apartment located above his own, waited for her when she opened her apartment and followed her inside. He grabbed a knife on the counter and stabbed her several times in the neck and body. He decided to chop up her body in an attempt to get rid of it.
In an earlier psychiatric report, it was argued that Ruiters told psychiatrists that he was fascinated by serial killers, and that he had done a lot of research in this regard. Among other things, he did research on Ted Bundyen, the so-called Zodiac Killer.
Riiters used a handsaw he found in the apartment to cut up Volschenk’s body. He put her head in a rucksack and disposed of it in the field next to Jip de Jager Drive. He then went to a hardware store where he bought a set of yellow gloves and a saw. He told the court that after cutting her body into nine parts, he took the body parts to his flat where he placed them in coolers and black bags. Riders then returned to Volschenk’s apartment to dispose of the blood and other evidence.
Volschenk’s colleagues became concerned when she did not show up for work. They approached a resident in the apartment block who went looking for her. She got the security gate of the deceased’s apartment open, with the front door locked, and saw that the deceased’s vehicle was still in the parking lot. The resident reported this to the security officer who then went to the apartment with the deceased’s sister, the resident and two other colleagues.
They knocked on the door and Riders, still wearing the yellow gloves, opened it for them. They confronted him and he told them that he worked for her, and she paid him to clean her apartment. There was still blood on the walls and some body parts were still inside the apartment.
They called the police, and he was arrested. The police found black bags with the deceased’s body parts in his apartment. He misled the police and took them to other scenes where he claimed to have disposed of Volschenk’s head. It is for this reason that the charge of attempted obstruction of justice was filed against him.
Judge Robert Henny adjourned the case until June 9 and informed the accused that he will remain in custody until a place is available at the Valkenberg psychiatric hospital.
