Zimbabwe man murders SA landlord

court

A Zimbabwean man has been arrested on allegations that he murdered his landlord a school teacher whose body was found in manhole, police said.

Police officers had found John Scrooby's body after being called to his house in Orchards yesterday morning, Captain Phillip Maganedisa said.

They had found a tooth and Scrooby's glasses next to a door of his house and blood on the floor.A trail of blood had led police to a manhole, where Scrooby's body was found. He had multiple stab wounds.

"There was no sign of forced entry at the house, meaning the victim had opened the door voluntarily for someone he knew."

Further investigation led to the arrest of a Zimbabwean national whom Scrooby had allowed to stay at his house.The man allegedly told police that armed men had forced him to kill Scrooby with a blunt object at about 2am yesterday.

However, police believed robbery was the motive for the killing because money was missing.The man will appear in the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court soon.

Maganedisa described Scrooby as a charitable man who always helped those in need.

"Some he gave bread to every day and some he gave free accommodation. So many people are crying, not because of what he used to do for them, but because of the kind of man he was," he said.

Scrooby was a mechanical technology teacher at John Orr Technical High School in Auckland Park.