While every attempt has been made to ensure this transcript or summary is accurate, Special Assignment or its agents cannot be held liable for any claims arising out of inaccuracies caused by human error or electronic fault. This transcript was typed from a transcription recording unit and not from an original script, so due to the possibility of mishearing and the difficulty, in some cases, of identifying individual speakers, errors cannot be ruled out.

 

 

WITHOUT A TRACE 

 

FENLEY: It could be the perfect murder. A mysterious disappearance but no body. An Eldorado Park, schoolteacher vanished two years ago without a trace. A police investigation failed to find her killer despite numerous clues, leaving a family praying for justice.

 

UPS: - LEA SHAW; COLLEAGUES – I think she is dead I think somebody killed her and she is dead.

 

UPS: - MARTIN LOUIS; PRINCIPAL - It’s tragic. Justice must prevail, justice must prevail.

 

UPS: - ANTHONY GOLIATH; THERESE’S BROTHER – If we can just have the body parts or what is left of it justice should be done... Up to now we did not even have a memorial and service.

 

UPS: - VOICER - Forty one year Therese Jacobus, was last seen at her home in Eldorado Park, South of Johannesburg on December 11 2003.  Her family and friends have given up all hope of finding her alive.

 

PRE-TITLE: WITHOUT A TRACE

 

UPS: - VOICER - Therese, a mother of two sons, was a typing teacher here at the Missourilaan Secondary school in Eldorado Park. After two years she is still regarded as part of the staff her name is still on the list of teachers absent since January 2004 when she did not report back after the December holidays.

 

UPS: - SUZELLE BLOEM; COLLEAGUES - The fact that she was always the same, same personality you could never see that she was upset that she had any problems, she always had a smile on her face that’s how I know her.

 

UPS: - LEA SHAW; COLLEAGUES – She was a loyal friend you could go to Therese for anything, she was the type of person that would give you her last twenty rand. The first few weeks it was very difficult for me. I used to look where her car used to park. I cannot go up the stairs where her class was. I avoid that to go up that was because it just reminds me of her.

 

UPS: - MARTIN LOUIS: THE PRINCIPAL - Therese was someone who was very caring. She was committed and dedicated to her work. I do not believe under any circumstances she will drop her job just like that and disappear. The only conclusion that I can draw or the inference that I can make is that wherever she is now, that she is dead.

 

UPS: - STEPHANIE – How I long to touch you. Everyday I long to hear your voice see your smile and smell your perfume n the classroom and now it seems like we will never hear. The reason I wrote the poem was because it was shocking to hear that we were never ever going to see her again and I had to express myself and I wrote the poem. I just wish we could get her body.

 

UPS: - VOICER - Therese Goliath was originally from Port Elizabeth. She married her college sweetheart Michael Jacobus in 1988. By the late 1990’s their marriage was in trouble. At the time of her disappearance she had a protection order against her estranged husband. He lives with his girlfriend in Weltevreden Park a suburb west of Johannesburg. According to friends they were finalising a divorce settlement and had made plans to discuss this over supper on the night she disappeared.

 

UPS: - SUZELLE BLOEM; COLLEAGUES - On Tuesday she mentioned that she was going out for supper with Michael on Thursday, they used to go out it wasn’t abnormal or strange for them to go out, so when she told us that they are going out that Thursday it was normal.

 

UPS: - VOICER - At a judicial inquest into her disappearance her husband denied that he had supper with her that Thursday. The court heard that he had taken her car for a service and dropped it off the next morning.

 

UPS: - SUZELLE BLOEM; COLLEAGUES - She still spoke to me about her husband, wanting to reconcile with her and I asked her how does she feel about it and she said she doesn’t actually trust him and that she will rather go on with the divorce, which was supposed to be in February the next year so that was our last conversation.

 

 UPS: - CELINA BANGWE; DOMESTIC WORKER – When she came back it was already four o’clock. I told her it is late and I need to get home. She then said it is okay. I can go because she is going to take a bath after that her husband might some at five o’clock to pick her up for supper.

 

UPS: - DENISSIA SEKOROBELE; FAMILY FRIEND - She was a little bit depressed from the way she usually. I wanted to stay longer with her but she said she said she was okay because I usually sit with her when she was alone so she said its ok I can leave her husband is going to pick her up for supper so I left at about half past four.

 

UPS: - VOICER - Nobody knows whether Therese went out for supper on that night, and if she did, whom she went with.  After her mysterious disappearance, traces of blood were found in the boot of her car, and the charred remains of her clothes were found in the backyard.  

 

AD BREAK 1

 

UPS: - VOICER - Colleagues became alarmed after Therese failed to show up at the school’s matric banquet.   

 

UPS: - ESTELLE BUYS; COLLEAGUES - We spoke about the banquet and the fact that the arrangement was that well pick Lea and Bernice up and I’ll travel with her because the last time they drove with me. The Friday when I phoned her I just could not get through to her. And I thought it was strange because I knew that she had to be home getting ready for the banquet.

 

UPS: - LEA SHAW; COLLEAGUES – But this was totally out of character for Therese, because Therese was the type of person if she makes an arrangement with you, she will call you back and say I cannot make it make other plans that day it did not happen. Monday morning the domestic phoned to say she found something strange at the house, burnt clothes.

 

UPS: - SUZELLE BLOEM; COLLEAGUES - I went to the house and Celina showed me a piece of material that looked like a pants of Therese, there was some under wire of bras that was found in the ashes and parts of a cell phone and parts of a bag. And then I phoned her brother in Port Elizabeth, Tony and I told him what I saw.

 

UPS: - ANTHONY GOLIATH; THERESE’S BROTHER – She said Tony there is something very wrong here in this house. So I said go to the police and report this then they did that. They went to the police and reported this matter

 

UPS: - VOICER - Her estranged husband, successful businessman Michael Jacobus, was arrested a week a later.

 

UPS: - JACK LA GRANGE; MICHAEL JACOBUS ADVOCATE - It is not uncommon for charges of murder to be made without a body but the state had to bring evidence that prove firstly that she is dead and she died of unnatural causes inflicted by the accused.

 

UPS: - VOICER - Meanwhile Therese’s eldest son, waited in vain for a call on his birthday, from his mother.

 

UPS: - ANTHONY GOLIATH; THERESE’S BROTHER – She never phoned him. It is a difficult he’ll always ask why his mother doesn’t call him on his birthday. All these years we all celebrated his birthday in Port Elizabeth on the 21st of December.

 

UPS: - VOICER - Michael claims that Therese had told him that she was taking a lift to East London without the children.

 

UPS: - ANTHONY GOLIATH; THERESE’S BROTHER – I made plans we discussed it in July when she was in Port Elizabeth. And we have plans for the December holiday camping plans

 

UPS: - SUZELLE BLOEM; COLLEAGUES - Why would she take a lift to East London, especially not telling anybody.

 

UPS: - ESTELLE BUYS; COLLEAGUES - The Thursday she did not once mention anything about East London.

 

 UPS: - VOICER - Police searched open fields, rivers and dams south of the city they came up with nothing. After spending almost two months behind bars, bail for Michael Jacobus was set at one point five million.

 

UPS: - ANTHONY GOLIATH; THERESE’S BROTHER – He definitely had something to do with her disappearance. If he was prepared to pay one point five million rand bail and he is not prepared to even say there is a ten thousand rand reward for anybody who has knowledge of the whereabouts of the mother of his children exactly what does that tell you.

 

UPS: - VOICER - At the Inquest into the alleged death of Therese Jacobus, a magistrate could find no evidence to link anyone to her disappearance. All charges were dropped against her husband. Now friends and family have vowed to find her killer.

 

UPS: - ESTELLE BUYS; COLLEAGUES - Also because she was our friend, we were close and we could see that if nothing was going to be done, the case is just going to die and that is why we felt we needed to get a lawyer on board as well.

 

UPS: VOICER - LEON FRANCIS; LAWYER - I was contacted by the pressure group in Eldarado Park as well as the family of Therese Jacobus to assist in an inquest into the alleged death of Therese Jacobus.

 

UPS: - ESTELLE BUYS; COLLEAGUES – A lot of things were uncovered by the private investigators a lot of things were followed up by them that were not originally done by the investigating officer.

 

UPS: - VOICER - Fearing that the case could go cold, Therese’s brothers make regular trips from Port Elizabeth to Johannesburg. As they walk into the house, memories come flooding back, inside they are greeted with the ominous silence of Therese’s absence. Only Celina Bangwe, Therese’s domestic worker, is home to greet them. In the backyard Anthony points out a spot where witnesses say they saw two strange men working a day after Therese’s disappeared.

 

UPS: - ANTHONY GOLIATH; THERESE’S BROTHER – This is the area that was shown out where the two guys was busy on that Saturday morning. The ground was shovelled around there was a hole here there was a hole that came down to the bottom you can see there it still shows that the hole is still there. Why they were doing the yard who paid them, if she wasn’t here, who paid them for that Saturday for doing work in the yard?

 

UPS: - VOICER - Where are they now?

 

UPS: - ANTHONY GOLIATH; THERESE’S BROTHER – the two guys that worked the yard? Nobody know who they are, nobody know where they come from or what. All the windows was rolled down, the seats was all moved forward when I arrived here I stopped there open the boot you could get the smell of the perfume. The perfume the same perfume she uses. That perfume had the same smell as the one in the bottle of her perfume.

 

UPS: - LEA SHAW; COLLEAGUES – All the windows were open and we just got the smell of this perfume it and I knew it Therese’s perfume because she just bought it the perfume. It was overwhelming you could smell it from outside the garage and all the windows open we found it was very strange why all the windows were open.

 

AD BREAK 2

 

UPS: - VOICER - The family lawyer, Leon Francis, arrives to meet with the rest of the family.

 

UPS: - LEON FRANCIS; FAMILY LAWYER - I think it is up to the family to put pressure on the ministers office to get a new investigating officer appointed to this matter. During the inquest it came to light that there was a lot of things that the investigating officer in this matter did not do. The fact that there was a perfume bottle in the house that  was not taken for fingerprint testing,  statement were taken from witnesses in this matter almost eighteen months after Mrs Jacobus got missing.

 

UPS: - DENISSIA SEKOROBELE; FAMILY FRIEND - I was never questioned by police when she disappeared I was only questioned by the family members

 

UPS: - VOICER – Were you finally questioned?

 

UPS: - DENISSIA SEKOROBELE; FAMILY FIREND - Yes I was questioned in June, July 2005.

 

UPS: - LEA SHAW; COLLEAGUES – And I showed the policeman that is the bottle that she bought and it was half empty and it was a new bottle because she just bought it and she was still complaining about how expensive it was because Bernice let her buy these expensive perfume and half of it was gone. And I showed it to the inspector and but he just look at it and left I there.

 

UPS: - VOICER - To complicate matters further, police forensics were unable to match blood found in the boot with that of Therese’s.  

 

UPS: - LEON FRANCIS; FAMILY LAWYER - It seems like as if the mat was only taken after the luminal was sprayed and that damaged the whole blood that was on the carpet.

 

UPS: - DAVID KLATZOW; FORENSIC SCIENTIST - Luminol does have the property that it may damage the blood sample that you wish to examine further.

 

UPS: - VOICER – DR David Klatzow, an independent forensic expert is also baffled why DNA could not be extracted from the crime scene.    

 

UPS: - DAVID KLATZOW; FORENSIC SCIENTIST - In order to do a DNA test you need the tiniest fraction of blood, a speck of blood the size of a pinhead is enough to do DNA testing. There are so many nooks and crannies in the back of a car that I find it very difficult to believe that the police were unable to get any DNA out of the car whatsoever and I can only put this down to bad handling of the crime scene and bad handling of the evidence.

 

UPS: - VOICER - It seems as if police also failed to get vital evidence as to who dined with Mr Jacobus on the evening in question.

 

UPS: - LEON FRANCIS; FAMILY LAWYER - According to Mr Jacobus he came to Eldorado on the Thursday and he left at around about half past seven, a quarter to eight to go out with his girlfriend to Melrose Arch, that evening and he spent the night at Melrose Arch until the early hours of Friday morning and then he left and went home. The police never went to umh to ask for surveillance tapes at Melrose Arch I contacted the security and they said nobody came to them and at this stage they have already destroyed the tapes. Investigation was never put forward to go to Melrose Arch in showing pictures to waitresses or the owner of the place in order to establish if Mr Jacobus was indeed there with Therese Jacobus or with the girlfriend, his alibi for the night. Cell phone records placed him in this vicinity, in the Eldorado vicinity in the early hours of the morning. According to Mr Jacobus he was never in this area but it came out in cross examination that they indeed drove to Eldorado in early hours of the morning. Mr Jacobus and his girlfriend and they then turned back to Weltevreden Park their home.

 

UPS: - ANTHONY GOLIATH; THERESE’S BROTHER – That is the tower that probably picked up the signal of my sister’s husband’s cell phone while he was in this area most probably because that is where she stays where she used to stay down the road.

 

UPS: - VOICER - Anthony complains that in the case of missing Constable Francis Rasuge a thorough investigation was launched to find her killer. But for his sister it seemed there was little effort put in by police to solve the mystery.

 

UPS: - LEON FRANCIS; FAMILY LAWYER - There is actually no comparison, there was excellent work done in the Rasuge case as well as the Leigh Matthews matter, I think when coming to the Therese Jacobus matter there is a lot of issues outstanding in this matter.

 

UPS: - VOICER - Lisa Vetten a researcher with the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation says bungling of cases is common.

 

UPS: - LISA VETTEN; CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENVE AND RECONCILIATION - We saw case where crime scenes had not been secured evidence been tampered with not enough evidence been gathered it is was clear sometimes from readings statements that there were further witnesses or potential witness’s  we did not find statements that indicate  those witnesses had been followed up we very often saw witnesses had disappear and they haven’t left correct address they are gone and there is no means of following them up and there is often a lot of questions about the quality of the DNA analysis  and sometimes questions around whether or not any forensic evidence had been collected at all.

 

UPS: - DAVID KLATZOW; FORENSIC SCIENTIST - If you had to give me a DNA sample I could give you a result probably within forty eight hours, so it’s not the technique is so long, but there is a backlog of a huge number of cases and a limited number of staff to do the cases because they are losing staff rather alarmingly.

 

UPS: - VOICER - Police refused to comment about the obvious mistakes made by their investigators. Therese’s family is determined to find justice even if it means retesting of the DNA found in the boot of the car. 

 

UPS: - DAVID KLATZOW; FORENSIC SCIENTIST - If the car is still there and the car has not tampered with anymore than at the time of this it is perfectly possible to go back to the car and have another look at it. There are number of laboratories all over the world there is a laboratory in the United Kingdom called forensic excess who are extremely good. They are competent they are good and they are quick they could re-test it.

 

UPS: - LISA VETTEN; CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENVE AND RECONCILIATION -I think we need to strengthen our forensic labs substantially both in terms of the human personnel that is available there as well as the kind of test that are also available and what is some of the common factors that prevent convictions and prosecutions. 

 

UPS: - VOICER - Determined to find out what happened to Therese, the family also consulted a spirit medium, who claims to have made a connection with the alleged diseased?

 

UPS: - FRED LABUSCHAGNE; PSYCHIC - She actually explained to my wife who was responsible for the murder.

 

UPS: - VOICER - We met Fred Labuschagne the husband of spirit medium Sandra, who did not want to appear on camera.  Fred drove us to an area south of Johannesburg where they believe Therese is buried.

 

UPS: - FRED LABUSCHAGNE; PSYCHIC - She was at a pool area when she was hit from behind and lost consciousness. By nine thirty it had all been done, it was over, she was murdered and her body was bisected and she was buried in two different spots. This is the road that we’re on now going to the place where the torso is buried. She described the trees there was a touch of mielies which was growing it was not on farm land. As we stopped here with my wife she said this is exactly the place I want to be this where they‘ve showed me where I’ve got the indication where the place is. We were unable to identify a specific spot over here, but this is the general area where it is.

 

UPS: - VOICER - The family is considering digging up the area trying to find the body. While all hope of finding Therese alive is slowly fading Anthony Goliath says they’ve not given up hope of finding justice. 

 

UPS: - ANTHONY GOLIATH; THERESE’S BROTHER – And justice should be done, but most of all what we want is the body what is left of it so that we can have a proper burial for her.