Cedric Maake

Cedric Maake
Born Maoupa Cedric Maake
1965
Other names The Wemmer Pan Killer
Criminal penalty 1,340 years imprisonment
Killings
Victims 27+
Span of killings
 1996–1997
Country South Africa
State(s) Gauteng
Date apprehended
 December 1997

Maoupa Cedric Maake (born 1965) (also known as the Wemmer Pan Killer) is a serial killer from South Africa. He committed at least 27 murders throughout 1996 and 1997.

Crimes

Maake is known as the "Wemmer Pan Killer" because it was in this area of Johannesburg that he targeted most of his victims, beginning in April 1996. At first the Brixton Murder and Robbery Unit of the South African Police Service (SAPS), the unit primarily responsible for investigation of serial killers in the Johannesburg Police Area,[1] did not link his crimes together, believing that they were the work of two separate serial killers due to the difference in patterns between the murders. During the investigation of Maake's murders two separate criminal profiles were created; one for the “Wemmer Pan” murderer and one for “Hammer” murders.[2]

The Wemmer Pan murders involved several patterns of victims. The first were men and women walking alone who Maake bludgeoned to death with rocks. The second group of Wemmer Pan victims were couples in cars around the Wemmer Pan area whom Maake would assault, shooting the men and raping the women.[2]

The second criminal profile the police created involved murders of tailors in the inner city area, killed in their shops with hammers.[2] The connection between the Wemmer Pan murders and the Hammer killings were made by Superintendent Piet Byleveld on 12 January 1998. Maake took Byleveld to a pawn shop in La Rochelle in the south Johannesburg where he had sold the bicycle of Gerhard Lavoo, a victim in the Wemmer Pan murders, for R 120. The alias he used on the receipt was "Patrick Mokwena", the same alias he had used to check in a shirt at one of the tailors before Maake murdered him.[3]

Arrest

Maake was arrested in December 1997 as a suspect of the “Wemmer Pan” murders and initially acknowledged responsibility for the crimes. He cooperated with police officers on several occasions to lead them around the vicinity and point out the locations of his crimes. The data generated by this was later used with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and crime mapping technology to provide diagrams of the geographical extent of the serial murders. The Wemmer Pan serial killer trial was one of the earliest uses of GIS to aid in court prosecution by the SAPS. Geographic profiling later revealed that the majority of Maake's murders were centered on his two residences, the place where he worked, and the residences of his brother and girlfriend.[1]

Maake was charged with 36 counts of murder, 28 attempted murders, 15 counts of rape, 46 counts of aggravated robbery, and other offenses relating to the unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.[4] In court Maake pleaded not guilty to all charges.[5] One month after his arrest he also confessed to the “Hammer” murders.

On September 6, 2000, he was convicted of 27 murders, 26 attempted murders, 14 rapes, 41 aggravated robberies and many more less serious offenses.[5] He was found guilty of 114 of 134 charges in all and was sentenced to 27 life sentences (one life sentence for each murder) plus 1159 years and 3 months imprisonment.[2] In total, his sentence amounted to 1,340 years in prison.[5]

Cedric Maake was featured in a 13-part M-Net television series called Criminal Minds hosted by Malcolm Gooding.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Schmitz, PMU; Cooper, AK; Byleveld, P; Rossmo, DK. "Using GIS and Digital Aerial Photography to Assist in the Conviction of a Serial Killer" (PDF). Crime Mapping Research, 4th Annual International Conference , San Diego, California, USA. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Holtzhausen, Erica (October 2006). Gerda van den Bos, ed. "World Records for How Quick They Nab Serial Killers" (PDF). SAPS Journal (South African Police Service Journal). Gauteng, South Africa: The Publications and Audiovisual Media Section of Communication and Liaison Services: 20–22. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 11, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  3. ↑ Retief, Hanlie (23 March 2012). Byleveld: Dossier of a Serial Sleuth. Random House Struik. p. 130. ISBN 1415201439.
  4. ↑ Chetty, Shaun (May–June 2005). "Going the Extra Mile In spite of…". SAPS Journal (South African Police Service Journal). Gauteng, South Africa: The Publications and Audiovisual Media Section of Communication and Liaison Services. Archived from the original on March 21, 2009. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 "Serial killer jailed for 1,340 years". BBC.com. 2000-03-16. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
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