5 May 2010, 11:48
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'He wanted to hand himself over'
Lolly Jackson's killer confessed to a top cop within hours of the shooting - but two days later, police still won't release his real name or pictures of him.
Police are also refusing to say why they won't give a credible explanation for not giving this information that could lead to his arrest.
Jackson, the founder and head of the Teazers strip-club empire, was shot dead in a house in Joan Hunter Avenue in Edleen, Kempton Park, on Monday night.
The killer, who goes by the alias of George Smith and is a former police informant, phoned Gauteng police crime intelligence head General Joey Mabasa shortly after the shooting.
The Mail & Guardian reported that Mabasa confirmed the call and said the fugitive admitted to the shooting.
"Yes, he did call me three years back. Smith was an informant on drugs for us.
"I had forgotten him. We stopped using him because he turned out to be a drug user.
"When he phoned yesterday (Monday night) he had to explain who he was and then I remembered him. He said he had killed Lolly," Mabasa said.
Mabasa said he then planned to meet Smith at Bedford Centre in Bedfordview and arranged to have back-up for the rendezvous.
However, Smith did not turn up.
Now the police have clammed up.
Provincial police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Eugene Opperman said this morning that police won't be issuing statements "until such time as there is a good arrest".
He added: "We are saying nothing whatsoever and have stopped speaking now ... There is too much speculation going on and wrong information out there."
Opperman said facts such as the reported 15 shots to Jackson's body and others were completely incorrect, and so to avoid further confusion and false information going out, there was now a clampdown on what police were prepared to say.
"The man has not yet appeared in court, so that is why we are not naming him," Opperman said.
(This statement is contrary to normal police procedure when they routinely name suspects and give newspapers their photographs.)
Asked why police were not putting out appeals for information on the man's whereabouts or details on the missing car, Opperman said: "Our team is happy with how the investigation is going. That information might be what the media wants, but we don't investigate via the media."
Several sources have claimed Smith is a police informer with links to several organised crime syndicates.
He apparently holds both Cypriot and South African passports and it is believed the South African Police Service are due to enlist the help of Interpol in their investigation.
According to sources, when Smith phoned Mabasa he said he was in South Africa to make money and that he was due to leave the country.
A policeman, who asked not to be named, said: "There are just too many questions and not enough answers for this to be a simple killing over an argument. There is a lot more going on than meets the eye," said the policeman, hinting the motive could be related to a business deal that went wrong.
While a specialised team of detectives, including crime intelligence agents, is currently working around the clock on the case, it is believed that detectives from the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigation Unit, the Hawks, could soon become involved in the investigation.
"We believe he telephoned the officer because he wanted to hand himself over, but we cannot comment any further on the conversation," said Opperman earlier.
"Unfortunately, the man did not hand himself over and he is now on the run. At this stage, we do not know what the motive for the murder was," he said, adding police knew exactly who they were looking for.
It was also revealed last night that Smith was a friend of Jackson and lived down the road from his home.
He was Jackson's right-hand man and did all his "dirty jobs", but on Monday night he pulled a dirty on Jackson, and riddled his body with bullets.
Other sources told The Star they believed the killing was sparked by a dispute over money owed to Jackson.
Talk Radio 702 reported that a money-laundering scheme gone wrong was at the centre of the killing. (See report on Page 3)
The dispute, also involving a banker, overheated, and that's why Jackson was found shot dead.
Police said the fugitive was a tenant in the Edleen house.
There were rumours that the vehicle was found abandoned nearby, but Opperman denied this.
Teazers spokesman Sean Newman said an autopsy was conducted at the Germiston mortuary yesterday morning, at about the same time ballistics officers were swarming around the Edleen property.
A long-time friend of the fugitive, who asked to remain anonymous, said he had known the man for more than 20 years.
"He's a good guy. It's just not like him," he said.
But Michael Kalyminos, a businessman who had a public run-in with Jackson over a woman, described the fugitive as a "proper thug".
"He is a thug of note. He is Greek. He has an English surname.
"He was running around with three passports, with Lolly's help."
Smith is a director of two businesses, one based in Bruma and the other in Florida Hills.
"One is named for the Greek word meaning "truth" and the other is named after a city in Cyprus.
A source said Smith was due to have appeared in the Kempton Park Magistrate's Court on charges of possession of stolen property.
He was also apparently facing separate charges of being in possession of a fake passport.
Kalyminos said he had no time for Jackson.
He had laid charges of attempted extortion, attempted kidnapping, intimidation and crimen injuria against him, claiming Jackson had threatened him and his girlfriend. "God must forgive me, but I am so happy he is dead."
Jackson ran an empire of about 30 businesses and owned properties worth millions of rands.
He worked alone - in most of the businesses he is the sole director or member, and was the sole owner of at least four properties in the Joburg area, which he bought between 1994 and 2007 for a total of about R7 million, but had bonded for more than R15m.
Three of the properties are in Bedfordview and the fourth is at Hartbeespoort Dam.
In March last year, he and his wife Demi bought a R3.9m property, apparently without a bond, in Beaulieu, Midrand, through a jointly owned business .
Yesterday The Star found that Jackson's 2 000 square metre Kloof Road property was empty with a "for sale" sign on the grass.
Reporting by Graeme Hosken, Kristen van Schie, Shain Germaner, Vuyo Mkize, Solly Maphumulo, Gill Gifford, Shaun Smillie and Louise Flanagan
This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on May 05, 2010
The Star
Comments by Sonny
If the SAPF does not do its investigations through the media, then:
Why are there so many cops (3000) in prison or under prosecution>
General Cele made these revelations!
....."Dis buite orde!' roep Cele toe hy ou landsvlaggie sien: Beeld ...
Die staat sê en ons moet spring anders is jy tronk toe of jou werk kwyt. ...... Ek lees nou net van 'n WIT vrou wat verkrag is en dat 30 polisiemanne staan en ..... hul gebreekte liggame wat deur ten minste 3000 swarte deurgetrap en" ... Cele.
Beeld
Comments by Sonny
Where are these 'stats' being hidden?
Under the SAPS carpet?
First Breaking News on the Murder Case
The man who may have shot Lolly
Mandy Wiener & Alex Eliseev | Yesterday
Eyewitness News on Tuesday learnt police were hunting for a Cypriot national who goes by the pseudonym "George Smith".
He is alleged to be the gunman who shot Teazers owner Lolly Jackson on Monday night.
Police said they were closing in on the suspect who murdered Jackson at an Edleen house in Kempton Park.
The man stole Jackson’s Jeep Cherokee and then phoned a high ranking police commissioner to tip him off about the shooting.
It is understood Jackson was killed as a result of a feud over money.
The Cypriot man’s real name is not confirmed but Eyewitness News has learnt of several variations of his surname and is in possession of what appears to be a copy of his South African identity document.
He has a lengthy criminal record and police have been monitoring him for some time now.
Smith worked for a known European fugitive who sought refuge in Johannesburg and has been associated with Jackson.
His exact motive for wanting to kill the strip club tycoon is not clear at this stage.
Top detectives have been set on the trail of Smith and the team worked through the night to track him.
Police had not made an arrest by Tuesday afternoon but remained confident
they would catch him soon.
Jackson’s Jeep Cherokee had also not been recovered but police did not suspect that Smith fled the city or the country.
Police said they knew exactly who their suspect was as they have had him in their sights for several months.
Officials refused to speculate on the motive for the murder.
EWNews
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