Man Killed, Buried Teen, 4 Other Women In Home Backyard Following Arguments

A South African man confessed to killing four women and a teenager and burying them in shallow graves in the backyard of his home, police said Monday.

Julius Mndawe, 25, was taken into custody last week after the body of a 24-year-old woman was found. During questioning, the man confessed to the crime, saying he killed her following an argument.

"The accused said he met the lady through Facebook. Then they chatted and got together at his place. He is alleging that soon after they had sex the woman demanded money and left. She apparently came back the following day, more determined to demand money. They had an argument and, according to him, the woman slapped him and he punched her and she fell and hit her head,” South African Police Service spokesperson Colonel Mtsholi Bhembe said, adding that man then buried her in his garden after realizing she was dead.

During interrogation, the man also confessed to killing four more women. While the second body was recovered Friday, three more bodies were exhumed from the backyard over the weekend. Police believe he committed the crimes last year.

"We arrested the suspect after he killed a 24-year-old woman last week. Through investigation, the accused told police that he killed a 15-year-old too and pointed out the grave and we exhumed the body on Friday. He later again confessed that there were three more bodies buried at his yard which led the police to continue with the exhumation on Sunday [yesterday] where three bodies were found," a police spokesperson said.

"According to him, he raped some of the victims and said he had a relationship with some and they were killed after they had disagreements," the police spokesperson added.

Mndawe was charged with murder and concealment of death and rape and was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

Expressing shock, a neighbor said, “We are scared. This man has been staying with dead bodies in his yard. We have been searching for the people thinking they are missing while he killed them. He is so evil and we thought he was a good young man. We wish the police can bring him here so that we deal with this man. We have lots of people disappearing from this community, not knowing that he kills them."