A British couple who were 'beaten to death' and thrown to crocodiles by a trio with alleged links to ISIS died due to blunt trauma injury. Rod Saunders and wife Rachel were famous botanists who died in South Africa in 2018.
The 74-year-old man and 63-year-old woman were well-known in their field and were on a trip to a mountainous region of the country to look for rare seeds. Sayfudeen Aslam Del Vecchio, 41, his wife Bibi Fatima Patel, 30, and Mussa Ahmed Jackson, 35 have been accused of their robbery and murder, reports the Mirror.
The trio are said to have taken Rod and Rachel's bodies in 'sleeping bags' before throwing them off a bridge that was situated over a crocodile-infested river. The attackers then, a High Court trial heard, spent £37,000 with the dead couple's credit cards.
A doctor told the trial in Durban that 'scavenger activity' was evident on their bodies and that a crocodile could have 'fed' on the corpses due to injuries sustained.
He said: ”The damage to the bodies suggests that something could have fed on them. For example a crocodile due to lost tissue in the arms, neck and chest. Once the bodies were pushed into the banks then dogs and rats could have fed on it."
The British husband and wife, who were married for over 30 years, spent six months a year in the remote mountains looking for Gladioli seeds after leaving their home in Cape Town on February 4, 2018. The Saunders then met a BBC film crew 900 miles away in the Drakensberg Mountains to take part in an episode of the TV show 'Gardeners World'.
Well-known presenter Nick Bailey, who took a selfie with the pair and posted it to his Twitter account, was the last photo of the two alive, the court heard.
The couple then headed for the Ngoye Forest where they were reportedly kidnapped.
The court was told: ”Around February 10 the investigating officer received information that Rodney Saunders and his wife Dr Rachel Saunders had been kidnapped in the KwaZulu-Natal region.
“It was established on February 13 that the defendants were drawing money from an ATM which amounted to theft of R734,000 (£37,000) and there was the robbery of their Toyota Land Cruiser and camping gear.
“It is alleged that between February 10 and 15 at the Ngoye Forest the accused did unlawfully and intentionally kill Rachel Saunders and between the same dates did unlawfully and intentionally kill Rodney Saunders."
A police squad found a connection between the phones belonging to the couple and the phones of the suspects before arresting them and charging the trio with murder. At their home, officers found ISIS pamphlets and flags. Text messages also revealed to police that they were discussing 'killing the kuffar' and that a couple in the forest would make a 'good hunt'.
Del Vecchio and Patel and their lodger Jackson deny kidnap, murder, robbery and theft at Durban High Court as the trial continues.
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