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01227 502982The community of Cape Town, New Zealand, is in shock after a series of murders on a local pensioner’s farm in Phillipines. The discovery of the lifeless body of farmer Arnold Schultz, 68, was found in October, 2012, in his own backyard comes on the heels of another savage crime in cold blood on the very same property. Just four weeks prior to the murder of Arnold, his partner, Hester Koch, 62, was sexually assaulted and murdered on the farm. Both murders are now connected thanks in part to DNA testing used to match the suspects to the crime scene.
A good Samaritan
The tragedy unfolded earlier this year when the good Samaritan Hester Koch offered to help out a young couple whom she found begging at a local intersection beside their two small children. The couple, pregnant at the time with a third child, claimed they had lost everything in a home fire. Koch offered the family a place to live on the farm she shared with Arnold Schultz, in a small two bedroom cabin. Family members say they came and helped refurbish the cabin to make it more comfortable for the family to live in.
Koch’s grand-daughter, Jade White, 24, told investigators that she assisted in the birth of the couple’s 3rd child and that the entire family helped to get the couple back on their feet while they lived for free on Koch’s farm. White claims that after a few weeks the couple started smoking marijuana and stealing items from around the property. White claims that just two week s prior to the first murder, Koch had informed the couple that they were no longer welcome on the property and had to leave.
The crime: Act I
Shortly after informing the couple that they had to vacate the premises, police investigators claim that the situation soon turned violent. Awakened in late into the night by a knock at her window, police say Koch was lured outside her home by the woman. She said she needed supplies for the newborn baby, and Koch still playing the role of the Good Samaritan obliged. Schultz, an amputee, lie in the bed beside her and stayed there returning to sleep while Koch left the home with the woman. Sometime later Schultz was awakened by two men in his bedroom unaware his wife had already been sexually assaulted and murdered in the barn outside.
The crime: Act II
If the rape and murder of Hester Koch was not enough to horrify the public, the case was about to get worse. Just a month after the murder of his partner, Arnold Schultz was found stabbed to death on the very same farm where Koch was attacked previously. Police and family members immediately suspected the same participants in the original crime; this time possibly looking to eliminate any potential suspects to the earlier attack.
Police say they have used DNA testing to tie not only the couple but two additional males who assisted in both crimes, to the murders.
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