Carel Johannes Delport

Carel Johannes Delport
Born Carel Johannes Delport
ca. 1956
Killings
Date January 20, 1992
Location(s) Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Killed 9
Injured 19
Weapons Ruger Mini-14
.357 Magnum revolver

Carel Johannes "Kallie" Delport is a South African mass murderer who killed nine people, including his father, and wounded 19 others in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa on January 20, 1992. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to 39 years in prison.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Life

Delport suffered from meningitis as a child,[7] was declared unfit for military service for unknown reasons, and worked on his father Marthiens's farm in Allerkraal, a place outside of Ladysmith, earning R300 a month. He reportedly had a history of mental illness[8] and was twice charged with and acquitted of manslaughter after shooting two cattle thieves. His family repeatedly asked his father to not allow him owning any firearms, but he declined their requests. Delport had 13 licensed firearms at the time of the shooting and was frequently asked to participate in wildlife culling, because he was considered one of the best marksmen in the area.[9]

According to an examination conducted after the shooting he had an IQ of 78 and was suffering from borderline personality disorder.[10]

Family

Delport had a brother named Willem. He had constant disputes with his stepmother Eleonora, who couldn't stand him and wanted him off the farm,[11] as well as his father Marthiens, whom he called a hard and ruthless man and accused of casting him from his rightful place, when he adopted a black boy two months prior to the shooting.[9] According to Delport his father often said that he was stupid and belonged in a mental institution. He also was not allowed to eat together with his father and stepmother at the table, but had to have his meals outside the house.[12]

Marthiens Delport had an illegitimate daughter with a black woman and once raped a 16-year-old relative, who afterwards unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide.[10]

Shooting

The shooting began at the farm after Delport had an argument with his father about the sale of three calves. When his father showed him the money he had just received, commenting that he would give it to his stepmother, Delport armed himself with a .357 Magnum revolver[7] and killed the man with a shot to the chest on the veranda. He then attempted to help his father, but he was already dead.[12] Delport next shot the housemaid Makhozana Alzina Ntombela in the kitchen and set fire to the mattress in his room and his car, which eventually caused the house to burn down. Outside, about 750 metres from the farm, he killed Msamaniso Mdladla and Petros Ndlala, the two black men who had come to buy the calves, and then drove to his stepmother in Ladysmith to set her car on fire, but when he failed to find it, he began shooting randomly at people in the street with a Ruger Mini-14.

Delport continued shooting at the parking lot of a shopping centre, killing a total of five people, including traffic officer Prithlal Rambally, who was hit three times,[13] and wounding 11 more. When police arrived at the scene he sped away in his truck towards Newcastle and shot at commuters in a bus, wounding six of them. Delport was eventually arrested on a road outside of Ladysmith, after a short chase and a shooutout with police, in which two officers were wounded.

Besides the rifle police recovered four 30-round magazines, the .357 Magnum revolver and more than 3,600 rounds of ammunition from Delport's truck.[9][10] Most of his victims were killed with shots to the heart.[7]

Victims

Those killed were:[13]

Aftermath

Because most of Delport's victims were black, racial tensions increased in the area, and during his trial a crowd gathered outside the court and threatened to lynch him.[14][15]

On March 4 the trial was postponed to March 18 for a two-week-long psychiatric examination of the gunman.[16] Dr. Anthony Dunn, chief psychiatrist at the Midlands Hospital, argued that Delport was not mentally ill during the shooting, but due to his low IQ, his inability to cope with stress, and his hatred against his father he was of partially unsound mind and lost all self-control.[7] Prosecution accepted his mental incapacity, low intelligence and emotional imbalance to be mitigating factors and refrained from demanding capital punishment, instead asking for a long-term prison sentence during which Delport should receive psychological help.[17]

Delport pleaded not guilty, claiming that he was of unsound mind during the shooting and fired at black shapes that were attacking him.[10] On October 21 he was found guilty after changing his plea, and on October 29 he was sentenced to a total of 39 years in prison, among them 22 years for nine counts of murder, and 12 years for 21 counts of attempted murder. The sentences run concurrently, meaning that he will be released after 22 years.[18] Delport was also declared unfit to ever be able to obtain a firearms license.[19]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Berserk gunman kills nine, wounds 10, New Straits Times (January 21, 1992)
  2. ↑ Man on rampage leaves 9 dead, St. Paul Pioneer Press (January 21, 1992)
  3. ↑ Killings blamed on price dispute, Spokane Chronicle (January 21, 1992)
  4. ↑ South African held in 9 slayings, The Press-Courier (January 21, 1992)
  5. ↑ Man on ramaage kills at least nine, Spokane Chronicle (January 20, 1992)
  6. ↑ Assailant slays nine in rampage, Eugene Register-Guard (January 21, 1992)
  7. 1 2 3 4 Slagter Delport skuldig bevind aan massa-moord Die meeste slagoffers het dodelik akkurate hartskote gehad Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (October 22, 1992)
  8. ↑ Mass killing caused by dispute over price of cattle, Associated Press (January 21, 1992)
  9. 1 2 3 Uur van waansin 9 sterf in koeëlreën, 18 gewond op Ladysmith Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (January 21, 1992)
  10. 1 2 3 4 Ek is jammer, sê Kallie en stort in hof ineen Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (October 20, 1992)
  11. ↑ Twee gesigte van 'n jong verdagte Vriende praat uit ná Ladysmith-slagting Stil, saggeaard, 'maar glo nie die eerste keer dat hy na wapen gryp' Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (January 22, 1992)
  12. 1 2 Kallie moes sy kos op vuur buite huis kook Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (January 25, 1992)
  13. 1 2 'Slagting' hof hoor Kallie was 'emosioneel belaai' Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (October 16, 1992)
  14. ↑ Slagting: Kallie in hof en SAP vrees glo vir sy lewe Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (January 23, 1992)
  15. ↑ Woedende skare voor Ladysmith-hof Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (January 25, 1992)
  16. ↑ Kallie Delport se verhoor uitgestel Archived January 20, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (March 5, 1992)
  17. ↑ Ook staat vra dat Slagter van Ladysmith nie hang Archived January 20, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (October 23, 1992)
  18. ↑ Rocky Mountain News (October 29, 1992)
  19. ↑ Die Slagter van Ladysmith moet 22 jaar sit Sy lae IK, pa se provokasie en gedeeltelike ontoerekeningsvatbaarheid was versagtend Archived October 31, 2015, at the Wayback Machine., Beeld (October 29, 1992)
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