Family plead for police to revisit cold case of pregnant mother of three murdered 10 years ago

Lezel Wagner was murdered in August 2012 when she was eight-months pregnant. Picture: Supplied

Lezel Wagner was murdered in August 2012 when she was eight-months pregnant. Picture: Supplied

Published Oct 15, 2022

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Cape Town - A decade after their eight-month pregnant daughter, who was a mother of three, was brutally beaten to death, her family is pleading with police to assign a new team of detectives to the cold case.

The field where Lezel Wagner’s body was found in Atlantis. File Picture

Lezel Wagner, 33, was preparing to meet her baby girl who was due in September 2012.

On August 30, however, Wagner’s battered body was found dumped in an open field near her home in Sherwood Park, Atlantis.

Activists are appealing with police to reinvestigate the case after no arrests or leads were made.

Wagner was the mother of three young girls at the time of her tragic death.

The children are currently in the care of Wagner’s parents and are now aged 14, 16 and 23.

Wagner’s family have been left with more questions than answers.

Wagner’s distraught mother, Levonah Wagner, 72, told Weekend Argus that police have not been in contact with the family since the murder after the detective relocated to Johannesburg.

“She was expecting a girl and she was very excited,” said Wagner.

“My daughter was not perfect, she used to walk around a lot and we think she was using tik at the time, but that did not give anyone a reason to kill her so brutally.

“She was a quiet child and respectful,” she said.

Wagner recalls the day the investigation seemingly drew to a close.

“I remember walking to the detective’s office on that day and the door stood open.

“The office had been cleared and I was told that the detective had received a job in Johannesburg.

“I remember falling to my knees on the ground and I burst into tears.

“It hurt me deep down.

“We still do not know why it happened and how. We are hoping to get answers because we want to know why this person did this and how it happened,” she said.

Former ward councillor in Atlantis, chairperson of the Atlantis Women's Movement, Barbara Rass sits surrounded by all the newspaper clippings of murdered woman and children which haunted her. Picture: Tracey Adams/ AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY (ANA)

Former ward councillor, woman and child activist and founder of House of Healing shelter, Barbara Rass said she would be meeting with police to discuss the fact that Wagner’s case had become a cold case.

“It has been 10 years and there is nothing. The mother visited the police station regularly,” said Rass.

“We are calling on the police to relook into this case and assign a new detective to the case.

“Here was two lives taken, so its double murder and the killer is still among us, and that is very sad,” she said.

Police spokesperson, Sergeant Wesley Twigg said the case had no developments since it happened.

“Kindly be advised that the circumstances surrounding the incident cited in your enquiry are still under investigation.

“The investigating officer pursued all available leads with no success.

‘The suspect/s are yet to be arrested.

The South African Police Service are appealing to anyone with information that can assist with the investigation to please call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.