The man fingered as the notorious “Cat Serial Killer” from Manenberg has died after battling stomach cancer.
The Daily Voice can exclusively reveal that the prime suspect for the killings, Jonathan “Boy” Wilson, 47, passed away in hospital on 25 September.
The grisly killings, which saw over 40 pussies slashed, disembowelled and beheaded, caused an uproar in the community, many calling the cruel acts satanic.
This prompted the South African Satanic Church to deny performing animal sacrifices and offer a R10 000 reward for information about the killings.
Even skollies were sickened, with members of the Hard Livings gang threatening to kill the vark behind the carnage.
An investigation was led by the Animal Welfare of SA (AWS) who confiscated two dogs owned by Wilson, following reports that they were being used to hunt the cats.
Wilson’s hartseer sister Mary-Anne, 57, tells the Daily Voice the family never believed he was behind the killings.
“We all grew up in the yard in Tousberg, where they took the dogs from.
“Those dogs (the cops confiscated) belonged to one of the people who died and Boy started looking after them,” says Mary-Anne.
“When I first heard that they suspected him, I was sick to my stomach because Boy is a quiet, gentle man. He would never harm an animal.”
She says her brother grew up in Manenberg and worked for a roofing company for many years: “He had two children and was divorced. At the time that he died, he was working as a handyman for an income.”
She says her brother attended the Nazareth Church and was not evil.
“We all grew up in that church and he was no satanist. He was not violent and would never hurt an animal, he loved animals.
“When we grew up, my older brother had lots of animals like horses, cats and dogs and we all helped look after them.”
According to records by the AWS, for the period between 15 July to 25 August, the bodies of 43 mutilated cats were discovered in Manenberg, during an unprecedented killing spree that lasted 42 days.
Then the killings stopped abruptly.
Mary-Anne says early in September, her brother fell ill and she was called to Heideveld Hospital.
“I knew he was sick but didn’t know it was so bad.
“They sent him home after two weeks in hospital and he came to stay at my house.
“He was only here for a day and a half when one morning he died peacefully in his sleep from stomach cancer.
“Until the time he died, he never spoke to us about the allegations against him and we don’t believe that he did that,” she says.
AWS spokesperson, Allan Perrins, confirms that the dogs were removed from Wilson’s care.
“All the killings bore the same hellish signature of an alleged deranged killer infamously dubbed the ‘Manenberg Cat Serial Killer,” says Perrins.
“His last victim was a kitten that he beheaded on 25 August.
“Her surgically severed head was discovered on the front doormat of a distraught Manenberg resident.
“This was to be our prime suspect’s final act of cruelty and defiance as barely a month later he was found dead in bed.
He carries some of his ghastly secrets to the grave but the truth will eventually be revealed as our team of crack private investigators continues to work the case and follow up on new leads and information.”
Manenberg SAPS commander, Brigadier Sanele Zama, confirms that Wilson was under investigation but says he was never charged.
“The case was presented to the senior state prosecutor for finalisation on whether or not to prosecute him, but they found no evidence linking him to the incident,” he says.