S Africa: Couple survive by playing dead

Pietermaritzburg - A Hilton couple were subjected to a brutal three-hour torture session at the hands of five armed robbers, which ended only when they feigned death.

The incident highlights the growing trend of seemingly well-planned, armed gangs terrorising Midlands suburban houses.

The only contact Carlo Cantarelli, 64, had with his partner, Sue Simpson, 58, during the ordeal was the gentle reassurance of their entwined toes.

The men poured boiling water down their backs, smothered their faces with plastic bags, pulled at their skin with pliers and strangled them with ties.

The couple spoke to The Witness on Wednesday from their Howick hospital beds where they are still recovering from first-degree burns, severe bruising and, in Simpson's case, a compressed vertebra.

Pushed panic button

Hearing each other's cries of agony fuelled their belief they were about to be killed.

Simpson said she woke up to her dog barking about 01:00 on Tuesday morning, and went to investigate.

"As I entered the hall, three figures came towards me. I thought I was seeing things, and then I realised and screamed for Carlo.

"He pushed the panic button, but it didn't go off."

It is unclear whether the gang tampered with the alarm system, or whether it was faulty.

A police forensic team told the family that one suspect entered through a bathroom window and let another four into the house, described by a family member as Fort Knox.

Simpson said: "The men pushed me into the cabinet, and dragged Carlo - who had come running from the bedroom - back to the bedroom.

Wanted the safe key

"They tied him face-down on the floor and put me on the bed with the duvet over my head."

Holding guns to the couple's heads, the suspects began what Simpson described as "a long-playing record" of "Where's the money, where's the money"?

"They kept asking about the safe key. I told them where it was.

"They dragged me into the spare room to open it. But, there was only foreign currency in the safe, so they took the firearms."

Cantarelli had two pistols and a rifle, which were stolen by the gang, along with jewellery and a hi-fi system.

Simpson was dragged back to the bedroom, where Cantarelli had been gagged with several pairs of socks in his mouth and bound with ties and scarves around his head.

Poured boiling water on them

Simpson said: "One guy came into the bedroom with a kettle.

"He started pouring boiling water on my head and swirled it over my back," said Simpson, her hand weakly showing the patterns the water made over her body.

"At first, the pain was terrible, but then I just let it be there.

"They boiled the kettle again, then did the same to Carlo. I could just hear Carlo's screams. The whole time they were demanding money."

After finding no more than a few hundred rands, which Cantarelli said was in his bedroom drawers, the gang continued to torture the couple, with one man shoving the barrel of a rifle into Simpson's ear before removing it and bashing it against her chest.

"Blacked out" several times

They were suffocated with plastic bags, causing them both to slip in and out of consciousness.

Cantarelli remembered "blacking out" three times, while Simpson said she had been on "borderline consciousness", terrified at being out of breath.

Once the bags were taken off their heads, pliers from a toolkit where used to "pinch, pull and twist the soft skin" on the couple's bodies.

The gang also threatened the couple, first saying that they would break their legs and burn their house down, and then that they would rape Simpson.

Simpson said the ordeal ended only when the couple played dead, letting their bodies go limp and slowing their breathing down.

Called police

Within 10 minutes, the suspects had fled. Simpson freed herself and used a pair of scissors to free Cantarelli.

They called the police and Cantarelli's son who arrived with paramedics.

No arrests have been made.

Detective inspector Johnson Sindane appealed to anyone with any information to contact him on 033 845 6526 or 082 459 7454.

http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/New...

Date Posted: Thursday 05-Feb-2009
Life is not long at all.,death comes quickly they who do evil,and dont change will pay forever.And if the evil is done to an outside source other than them selves it is done to God and that means Bad News!!!!!!

jabo vosta
covington
usa

Date Posted: Sunday 21-Sep-2008
These people are so dirty and stinky. Scum. They should be boiled to death...slowly.

Tyrone

Date Posted: Thursday 17-Apr-2008
To Sam from USA - Crime in SA most certainly has a colour. If you are from SA you would know this. We do not hear or read stories of "a gang of white men attacking, raping and torturing people"

Crime in SA is Black criminals against White, Black, Coloured and Indian. These Black criminals have no value for life and will rape and kill you for a cell phone and R50.

My whole family has been affected by crime in some way - hijacking, robberies, attacking....the list goes on.

I agree with all those who have immigrated, there is no future for white South Africans in SA anymore. I have immigrated and urge all others to do the same.

There is more to life than big houses & big gardens.
***********************************************

*Date Posted: Thursday 27-Sep-2007
Racism is very bad. Bad for white and bad for black. A crime is a crime and it doens't have color.

Sam
Washington DC
USA*

Michelle

Date Posted: Wednesday 28-Nov-2007
I WORKED IN JOBURG FOR 6 MONTHS AND SURVIVED UNSCATHED. i ACTUALLY HAD NO BAD EXPERIENCES OF BLACK PEOPLE BUT I KNOW FROM MY EXPERIENCES IN IRELAND THAT A LOT MORE COULD BE DONE TO COMBAT CRIME. LIKE NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH SCHEMES, ACTION GROUPS, VIGILANTE GROUPS IF NECESSARY AND PUNISHMENT BEATINGS AND SHOOTINGS AS AN EXTREME BUT EFFECTIVE MEASURE. IN NORTHERN IRELAND IN CATHOLIC AREAS WHERE THE IRA WERE ACTIVE THERE WAS ALMOST ZERO CRIME BECAUSE THE CRIMINALS WOULD BE BEATEN, KNEECAPPED OR SHOT DEAD FOR PERSISTANT CRIMINALITY. FROM THE IRA HAS STOOD DOWN, CRIME HAS ROCKEDED. AND THE BLACK PEOPLE SHOLD TAKE THIS ON BOARD TOO BECAUSE THEY COULD BE THE NEXT VICTIMS.

THOMAS
BELFAST
N. IRELAND

Date Posted: Thursday 04-Oct-2007
I am sad that the poor lady died. It should have been the monsters who did it. All the white people overseas who turn their heads away: be warned you are next! It is a typical "inside job". Do NOT trust the person who works for you. Rather do your own work even if you can't cope doing everything. You can be alive in a dirty house rather than to be dead in a "clean" one. Most of the time they do a lousy job anyway. More than 16 years I'm doing my own work and I don't fear that somebody will know if I have a safe in my house etc.

catherine
Johannesburg
South Africa

Date Posted: Thursday 04-Oct-2007
I am sad that the poor lady died. It should have been the monsters who did it. All the white people overseas who turn their heads away: be warned you are next! It is a typical "inside job". Do NOT trust the person who works for you. Rather do your own work even if you can't cope doing everything. You can be alive in a dirty house rather than to be dead in a "clean" one. Most of the time they do a lousy job anyway. More than 16 years I'm doing my own work and I don't fear that somebody will know if I have a safe in my house etc.

catherine
Johannesburg
South Africa

Date Posted: Thursday 27-Sep-2007
Thank you Sam. Racism IS very bad. From all sides. Bye bye.

adrianastuijt@knid.nl
Dokkum
the Netherlands

Date Posted: Thursday 27-Sep-2007
Racism is very bad. Bad for white and bad for black. A crime is a crime and it doens't have color.

Sam
Washington DC
USA

Date Posted: Tuesday 24-Jul-2007
Dear Julia

It is so sad to hear that, I understand where you are coming from I am from SA and because of those reasons we left and yes I guess they will do it again without being caught. It is just when you turn to God in those circumstances he will vindicate and it was not God that did it or even allowed it to happen so how can you say where was God and that He did not help , it was all the work of Satan himself and people who is so into witchcraft and evil things ,they did it, not God. It was all about themselves.It is always so funny that non believers always seem to blame God for everything even though they do not believe in Him. I do not know where you stand or if you believe or not? In this case it is about that family, and what they went through was horrific, and I believe that God will help the rest of that family and everyone that is close to them through this ordeal and that they will come out strong !! My prayers are still with them and for the people who did that I feel very sorry for they might get away with it now but I do not want to be them when God will judge them.
God bless
Glaudie

glaudie
blenheim
new zealand

Date Posted: Thursday 19-Jul-2007
dear Glaudie,
Just a comment on your email, did you know that the pour lady died about 3 weeks following her attack.She gave up and did not have the strength to pull through.
I do not think god helped her at all, instead the rotten 5 men are still out there and most proberly done it over and over again.Why because the police do not give a dam about the whites over there. Just them and the Goverment because they get paid well by them to turn a blind eye.

Julia
Perth
Australia

Date Posted: Tuesday 17-Jul-2007
Oh my heart goes out to you, I can only imagine what you went through. May God bless you for enduring that and may you get stronger and stronger, my prayers are with you and your family and I hope you will find it in your hearts to forgive those people for doing such a horrible things to you, when you forgive you do it for yousrelf so that you will be free, Believe me God will deal with those people He is the Judge of all and they will be severely judged!!!!God bless you and and our thoughts are with you.
Glaudie and family
New Zealand

glaudie
blenheim
new zealand

Date Posted: Monday 16-Jul-2007
I urge white South Africans to consider migrating to Australia. Your country has sold you out. Ours is starting to sell us out. Together we can make a difference.

Brett
Melbourne
Australia

Date Posted: Wednesday 11-Jul-2007
How dare they think they can get away with what they did.
In time there will be no more work offered to the black people for what they are doing to the white people.
Then who will be laughing.
What idiots they are, if it was not for the white people helping there country with work and incoming monies.
They would have nothing because their goverment will always rip them off.
What a lovely place to live in.
They will suffer greatly when we no longer help them.
Julia
from the great country.

Julia Vasey
Perth
Australia

Date Posted: Monday 11-Jun-2007
This is a perfect example of why you do not lock your guns in a safe. Now, instead of shooting these pieces of garbage dead, they left themselves vulnerable to torture and also armed these feces with more weapons so that the next victims have zero chance of survival. Keep your guns where they will benefit you- especially if you live in a land where the savages have been allowed to take over. Believe me, it is here now also, and I sleep with my guns at my side.

Fred Vazquez
Oates, SC
United States

Date Posted: Saturday 09-Jun-2007
Black people hate white people. They think they are rich and that they are allowed to do to them what they want. It is now much worse than apartheid. At least we were safe. We can't help it if they were carrying on like monsters in the townships. They brought it now into all the cities. Can't we just have peace and live in harmony? Get tough on all the criminals.

catherine
Johannesburg
South Africa

Date Posted: Sunday 03-Jun-2007
I see one person said this crazed gang were acting like animals, I beg to differ. Animals do not behave in this manner. These, in my opiniion, were savages - monsters -inhuman. If they are ever caught, they will possibly get a slap on the hand.

G Cross
Johannesburg
South Africa

Date Posted: Saturday 02-Jun-2007
The couple were very brave and lucky to be alive, God was smiling at them, to give them a second chance, whereas for the those heartless ' animals'...what goes around comes aroud!

Eleanor Mckenzie
Suva
Fiji

Date Posted: Thursday 31-May-2007
I wonder, ***IF*** these people ever get caught, who will have the most "rights" ?

Them or their victims ? ! ?

Dirk Beukes
Dublin
Ireland