THIS is the face of a man who private investigators believe was part of a gang who tried to kill a woman they had followed from a bank.
Saartjie Koen survived when the bullet fired pointblank at the back of her head grazed her skull.
Her ordeal was captured on closed-circuit television two months ago.
Now private investigators, who are trying to crack the case hope that a state-of-the-art identikit will help track down one of the suspects.
The man in the identikit is believed to be between 20 and 23 years old, about 1.75 metres tall and speaks with a Northern Sesotho and Setswana accent. He also had a small moustache.
Jeanette Naudé, who compiled the composite and profile, suspects that the man has robbed before, because he didn’t appear nervous during the robbery.
Naudé developed the technique she used to compile a photo-likeness of the robber. She starts by drawing a sketch of the suspect, then, using an archive of photographs and the software program Photoshop, builds a face of the suspect.
“In this case I would say that the compilation is about 70 percent accurate. It all has a lot to do with the person who we worked with,” said Naudé, who served 34 years in the SA Police Service before starting her own company, Crime Face.
The robbery took place in August in the car park of Trio Trade in Silverton, Tshwane.
CCTV footage revealed just how close Koen, 60, came to dying. The images show Koen driving into the premises of her family-owned business after she had withdrawn R50 000 at a bank in the area.
What she didn’t notice was a white VW Polo pulling up to the gate of the premises. One of the occupants of the car held up the security guard at the gate while two accomplices approached Koen’s car.
One of the men opened fire on Koen, hitting her in the right leg and left arm. As the man tried to grab her handbag, Koen fought back.
His accomplice then came up behind her, placed his arm around her neck and shot her. The shot forced her to the ground.
The robbers then made their escape.
The CCTV footage indicated that a second vehicle, a white Toyota Venture, was involved.
Koen is still recovering from the attack.
VIOLENT ATTACK: CCTV footage shows Saartjie Koen being robbed and shot in a parking lot.
In an article that appeared in The Star last week, private investigator Daryl Els, of Christian Botha Investigations, appealed for Nombuso Nkosi to come forward as he believed she had information on the crime. She did come forward, and Els said she had been helpful.
Els received another tip-off in the form of a phone call to a member of the Koen family.
“A man claimed he was the driver of the Toyota Venture mentioned in The Star article.
He said he hadn’t been paid his cut and that they then tried to murder him,” Els said.
The man, whose name is known to The Star but can’t be identified as he is yet to be arrested, claimed he was hiding out in Polokwane.
“He said he would like to tell us what happened and wanted R400 petrol money so that he could drive back to Pretoria,” explained Els.
The man was supposed to meet Els on Thursday but didn’t pitch up.
Anyone who recognises the suspect can call Els at 082 877 2168 or Frans Molokome at 082 682 0161.
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