Manhunt for farm killer

POLICE and shocked members of the quiet Aberdeen farming community, 57km southwest of Graaff-Reinet, yesterday launched a massive manhunt after a well-known, elderly farmer was callously gunned down on his farm.

Merino sheep farmer George “Schalk” Featherstone, 75, died after being shot six times in the upper body, allegedly by a former employee, on his farm Glenloch between Aberdeen and Millers Station shortly after 9pm on Thursday.

In an area which is not used to witnessing farm attacks, it has left the local community reeling.

According to police, Featherstone was alone in his farmhouse at the time but, despite being wounded, managed to call for help by telephone before he was shot for the last time.

Aberdeen farming community members yesterday joined police in the manhunt for the suspect in vehicles, on foot and in two planes and a helicopter which were deployed to track down the alleged killer.

Describing the attack, Graaff-Reinet police spokesman Warrant Officer Wessel Cronje said preliminary investigations showed that Featherstone’s attacker had knocked on his door at about 9pm.

“When the farmer opened the door, the suspect started shooting at him. At some point during the attack, the farmer managed to call for help. While he was making the call, he was shot for the last time. In total, he was shot six times in the upper body,” he said.

Cronje said the suspect had fled in the farmer’s Toyota Hilux bakkie, which was later spotted by a neighbour.

“When the suspect saw that he had been seen by the neighbour, he abandoned the vehicle and fled. At this stage, while we cannot be sure if any money was stolen, it is believed that nothing was stolen from the house.” Cronje said a pistol had been found at the scene, but it had not yet been established whether it belonged to the farmer or had been brought into the house by his attacker.

“We will be performing ballistics tests and other checks around the firearm,” he said.

Cronje confirmed that the suspect was a former employee on the farm.

“The suspect is known to investigators. The same man is also wanted by the police in connection with another crime.

“As this appears to be the first major farm attack in this area, the farming community is quite shocked. They have, however, rallied together and are assisting police in searching for the suspect.

“Besides vehicles and foot searches, two fixed-wing aircraft and a helicopter have been deployed to assist in the search.”

Featherstone is survived by his wife Sandra, who lives in an Aberdeen nursing home due to ill health, and three children.

He was the uncle of former Weekend Post fashion editor Barbara Robertson.

“This is a huge tragedy,” Robertson said, adding that she had, only a few months ago, visited the farm where her mother – the victim’s sister – had been born.

She said she had been informed that her uncle had managed to call a neighbour during the attack, but that by the time the neighbour arrived, her uncle had died.

“I spent a huge amount of time with him when I was young. He was from tough farmer stock and was very well known for breeding merino studs.”

Robertson said Featherstone, whose father and other relatives had owned farms in the area, was also survived by a son who lived in Australia and two daughters, one of whom lived on the West Coast and the other in KwaZulu-Natal.

She said funeral arrangements had not yet been made as the family would await the release of his body after an autopsy had been completed.

Aberdeen district farmer Kobus Lotter told an Afrikaans website yesterday that Featherstone was a well-known farmer in the area and his death had shocked the community.

The suspect was still at large by late yesterday.