A Bredasdorp husband had an horrific experience no-one should at home when, on Monday (21 September), during a would-be brief interlude from his gardening, he went indoors looking for his wife, only to discover her body.

Police said the 73-year-old woman, Mariette Mouton, was lying dead in their home in Republic Street, Bredasdorp and her husband immediately called for assistance and police confirmed afterwards she had been murdered.

“Access to the residence was gained through a back door, which was found unlocked,” said Capt Frederick van Wyk in correspondence with Hermanus Times. Items were also reported missing from the house.

Bredasdorp police registered cases of murder and house robbery, and were investigating the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death.

No arrest had been yet made at the time of posting and the investigation was ongoing.

Resonances with Adriana Gresse murder

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A murder with uncannily similar optics occurred in 2023 when 64-year-old Adriana Gresse was killed in her apartment, also in Bredasdorp.

Her body was discovered in her flat on Saturday 21 October 2023 after a neighbour saw the safety-conscious woman’s security gate was open and immediately suspected something was amiss, and called the police. They came and found her strangled body in the spare room of her home.