The little alcove, made by some unknown passerby is close to the site where the bodies of a three-year-old boy and his father were found at 13:30 on Saturday in the Botanical Gardens in George. Both killed in broad daylight within full sight of several footpaths in an area frequented by people walking their dogs, jogging or having picnics.
In what appears to be one of the most bizarre murders/suicides, it would seem that the father, Mornay Jacques Edgar (41) took the life of his three-year-old son, Lee, and then killed himself. The police confirmed that a fishing knife was found in the hand of the father some 10 metres away from the body of the child. The child had open wounds in his chest, back and stomach. The father, who was lying amongst some trees, right next to a footpath, had open wounds to his chest. According to Capt. Bernadine Steyn, SAPS provincial media liaison officer for the Southern Cape, a post mortem was conducted on Monday but the results are not known yet and the above scenario is still specu-lative. A speargun was also found close to the body of the child, but the police could not confirm whether the discolouring on it was in fact blood and if it had been used in the killing or not. "Forensic tests are being conducted on it," says Steyn.
She also confirms that other evidence was handed in for investigation, but would not comment on what that evidence is. "Rumours that the father had a hacking wound to his back, are untrue."
Custody
According to a severely traumatised Debra-Lee Bouwer (previously Edgar), mother of the murdered little boy, she had divorced Mornay in November 2009 after having been married for three years. They had joint custody of their son until a high court verdict came through last Wednesday which ordered that henceforth the father could only see the child for short periods in the company of his mother. For the interim it prohibited the boy from sleeping over at his father and ordered a full assessment of both parents. The documents were served on Mornay on Friday.
"He called me Friday afternoon asking if he could see Lee. He sounded perfectly normal, so I agreed and suggested the Spur, but he wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens," recalls Debra. "My son is afraid of his father and starts crying the moment he hears that he has to visit him, so I told him we were going to see friends in the Gardens," she sobs. "A report by a child psychologist was used in the motivation for the court order. It stated that the child was inexplicably afraid of his father and that contact with his dad had a negative effect on him."
When they arrived at the Gardens, her ex was already waiting for them in the parking lot. "The moment Lee saw his father he cried, but I tried to make light of it." She later recalled that she had overheard Mornay say to Lee that he had been at the garden earlier in the morning. Later, when they were frantically searching for the boy and his father, a car guard said the same.
"When I told Mornay that a friend and her kids were also joining us, I could see him react, but I didn’t suspect anything because I knew him to be quite antisocial."
The tragic picnic
Debra says she had to carry Lee, who wouldn’t go near his father. Once she spread out a picnic blanket, he insisted on staying on her lap. "My son loved fish and knew every kind of fish there is. Mornay eventually managed to entice him away from me when he suggested they go see the fish in a nearby pond." Debra agreed, but kept them in sight the whole time. At that stage her friend arrived with her children on their bicycles. "I helped them with the bicycles and when I next looked at where Mornay and Lee had been moments before, they were gone."
Debra immediately went to check if Mornay’s car was still in the parking lot, and because it was, she tried to calm herself down. "I ran around, calling to them, but nobody answered," says Debra as she realised within minutes that something was terribly wrong.
"I grabbed one of the kids’ bikes and peddled hysterically around the dam - telling myself that since the car was still there, they must have left in a different direction." Becoming frantic with worry, Debra called her parents, the police and her lawyer. "We kept on checking on his car in the parking lot. Everyone was running around looking for them. I just couldn’t believe they could disappear that quickly."
Her parents rushed over from her home in George to help with the search.
The grandparents, Dean and Pam Bouwer, were met by a police officer at the entrance to the Botanical Gardens and with the words, "We have bad news," he stopped them from going any further. A passerby with a dog had stumbled on the bodies. Pam Bouwer insisted: "Show me my grandson. We can save his life!" But it was too late. Dean shakes his head in disbelief, trying to comfort his distraught daughter.
"You are numb and mentally mute. It’s too horrific a reality for the brain to process," he recalls those first moments of surrea-listic shock. "How can you fathom anyone being that monstrous?"
Pam echoes her husband’s sentiments. "I’m furious. I’m torn apart and I am heartbroken. Lee was such a loving child, inseparable from his mommy. This is the work of a weakling, a coward."
The Bouwers have expressed their amazement at the heartfelt support they have received from the George and Mossel Bay communities.
A memorial service will take place from the George Methodist Church at 14:00 today.
Article: Anoeschka von Meck
Read a related article here: http://www.georgeherald.com/news.aspx?id=1704
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The dirt chapel with a posy of flowers. (Photo: Anoeschka von Meck)
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A small speargun, available at a local outdoor shop for R128, has a length of one metre.
