A retired policeman has revealed that he caught convicted rapist and killer Keith Bird by pretending to look for a job for his sister.
The Daily Voice can also exclusively reveal that Bird, 51, a pastor from Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain, was previously jailed for rape and theft and granted parole in 1999.
Former cop Carlo Antha says he picked up the case of Bird’s first murder victim, Aniesa Bardien, four years after her death, and his hard work resulted in Bird being jailed for 50 years in the Western Cape High Court this week.
Bird was charged with the murders of Aniesa, 36, who was his girlfriend and wanted to break up with him, and that of 20-year old Sharvonne Koense.
After a plea agreement, he was sentenced to 25 years in jail for each of the murders, and 15 years for Sharvonne’s rape.
Additional sentencing for charges ranging from crimen injuria, five more rapes and one theft totalled 142 years.
In January 2013, Bird thought he had committed the perfect crime when cops arrested him for the murder of Aniesa, but then let him go due to a lack of evidence.
Four years later, the case docket was handed over to then Warrant Officer Antha and his colleague Riana Hugo, both who worked for Human Resources training cops.
Antha says they were approached by detective Riedwaan Titus for help.
VICTIM: Aniesa Bardien
As a first step, he studied Bird’s modus operandi and created a crime profile.
Bird had lured his victims on the pretext of finding them jobs, contacting them via social media platforms like MXit, and using aliases like “Kelly”.
“I was given the docket mid-April 2017 and on 22 June 2017, I arrested Bird at his home in Tafelsig,” Antha tells the Daily Voice.
“I asked Riana, who is very attractive, to go with me to Swartklip Road, Tafelsig, where Bird was working as a supervisor for the City of Cape Town.
“I wanted to know what type of person he was, his character was important.
“I asked him for a job for my sister, he said I must follow the normal procedure, but while speaking to him, I noticed he couldn’t take his eyes off my female colleague.
“I learnt Bird was neat, professional and well spoken. I could see why his victims could easily trust him, he had the behaviour of a psychopath.”
He then followed up a witness statement by Lucian Jansen, who had told cops he was with Bird on the day of Aniesa’s murder but had only gone with him as far as the OK store in Bayview before turning back.
HERO: Carlo Antha won awards for his police work
Antha says when he questioned Jansen himself, the man spilt the beans.
“Bird asked Lucien Jansen to dig the grave (for Aniesa) and also threatened to kill him.
“He thought we would never get these witnesses because they feared him.”
When he dropped Jansen off at his home in Tafelsig, he was approached by a neighbour, who advised him to speak to a woman named Lizelle Jantjies, who also lived on the property.
He says when he started questioning Lizelle, she broke down in tears and said, “I don’t want to die”.
He then learnt that Bird had blackmailed Lizelle to befriend Aniesa and lure her to Camp Road in Strandfontein.
Lizelle had invited Aniesa, who was very spiritual, for a Bible study group at the Camp Joy theological college.
When they got there, Bird was waiting for them, grabbed Aniesa and beat her to death with a rock.
“He had promised Lizelle a job and threatened to kill her and her children if she didn’t help,” says Antha.
The seasoned cop, who was in the police force for 26 years before retiring, was also the one who linked sperm found on Sharvonne to Bird.
Sharvonne’s body was found in bushes along Baden Powell Drive in Tafelsig in May 2013.
Bird was linked to her murder after he was last seen with her leaving a party.
Antha says while Bird was in custody, a rape victim from Delft had recognised his face in a local newspaper and came forward.
He says they have since learnt that Bird was sentenced to 10 years behind bars in the 1990s after he raped a woman at the V&A Waterfront, where he had worked as a security guard.
The woman had car problems and he offered to help her before attacking her. He was caught by his supervisor.
Antha retired in December, shortly after he was awarded Employee of the Year in the Western Cape and Southern Cape.
He was also the runner-up for the Academics Trainer of the Year.
genevieve.serra@inl.co.za