Hotel murder coming of age: 21 years later

GEORGE NEWS - This coming Saturday night of 28 August marks the 21st anniversary of Leslie van Zyl's murder at the King George Hotel. For many years her mother, Christine Brockbanks Steward, searched for answers, but to no avail.

"I never give up hope, someone in George knows what happened that night," she said in a letter to George Herald last week. "Your newspaper is my only hope of finding out who was responsible."

Leslie van Zyl was a 28-year-old Liberty Life insurance representative from Fish Hoek who regularly travelled to George on business. On the morning of 29 August 2000 she was found dead in her hotel bathroom with multiple stab wounds and signs of strangulation.

A previous article by former George Herald journalist Pauline Lourens (August 2018, DNA must find Leslie's killer) recalls the events of that dreadful evening, where Leslie's young life was cut short: "On that fateful evening, Leslie tried to ward off the savage knife attack in her hotel bathroom. Hardened detectives were shocked to find the murder scene covered in blood.

"Tragically, a passer-by heard Leslie's faint calls for help and reported it to hotel staff who decided against intervening. The puzzling inaction by dithering personnel and many baffling aspects of the murder have continued to haunt Leslie's mother and also the investigating officers who were unable to find any fresh leads in the intervening years."

Since the first article in George Herald on 31 August 2000, Lourens has kept the memory of Leslie alive by regular annual reports on the murder investigation.

Through her dedication, two attempts were made to re-open the case. In her latest article in August 2018, Lourens reported that an application has been made to the director of public prosecutions in Cape Town to reopen the investigation. George Herald has made another enquiry to the NPA on Monday 23 August. Their feedback is being awaited.

Dreaded August

Leslie's mother dreads her daughter's birthday on 17 December, the month of August, and Christmas. "I remember the month of August so well with every detail, from Leslie rocking up at our door with a bag full of her clothes," wrote Brockbanks Steward. "Her husband had been out the night before at a function and returned home at 08:00 the following morning. That was the beginning of August 2000. It got worse from there...

"On Friday 26 August she went for supper with him and returned, saying she would be in George from Monday until Tuesday and would give the matter [her marriage] a great deal of thought. He [her husband] was to pick her up at Cape Town Airport on her return flight at 14:00. Her father took her to the airport for her flight to George. They spoke about what she was going to do, and she said, 'I really don't know Dad!'

"I spoke to her that evening of the 28th, it was 20:00 and we chatted and she couldn't decide if she would go down for supper or study. That was the last time I spoke to my darling Leslie."

Brockbands Steward and her family reside in the UK. "My son [Paul] is well and I have a beautiful granddaughter named Jessica Leslie. She turns 10 on the 1st of September. She is very much like Leslie and we chat about her aunt and how she would have loved her."

The first article in George Herald appeared on 31 August 2000, three days after Leslie was murdered.