A convicted killer who killed dozens of black men and boys has described how he feels no remorse and believes his actions were sanctioned by police in apartheid South Africa.
Louis Van Schoor went on a three-year killing spree in the 1980s, using his role as a security guard for white-owned businesses in the seaside town of East London to “hunt down” and eliminate intruders with “maximum force”.
The former police officer would be barefoot as he targeted his victims, some of whom were children, with his sense of smell, before shooting them with a gun loaded with bullets “designed to kill”.
At least 39 people were murdered by Van Schoor and he was sentenced to more than 90 years in prison. But, to the anguish of surviving victims and their families, the vicious killer has been free for two decades after serving just 12 years behind bars.
Now, in a shocking series of interviews with BBC Africa Eye recorded over the past four years, the so-called Apartheid Killer has revealed horrific details about his crimes that raise fresh questions about his early release and point to police complicity in the cold-blooded killings.
The 73-year-old is now a double amputee and lives freely despite his crimes.
Van Schoor was a police officer for 12 years before becoming a security guard and working as a trainer of “attack dogs,” a type of dog
The 73-year-old grandfather, once a portly and imposing figure, is now confined to a wheelchair after having his legs amputated following a heart attack.
In a display of his depravity, the killer detailed how he refused to be given general anaesthetic when his leg was severed, laughing that he was “curious” to see the procedure.
“I felt them cutting into the bone,” he said. “I felt the jolts as they cut, but before that they got an electric welder and burned the main arteries to stop the bleeding, and you could smell the flesh burning.”
Refusing to see himself as a criminal or serial killer throughout the documentary, he insists that he shot his victims “for the crime.”
“I was fighting crime and if you succeed, you’ll be called a monster and a serial killer or whatever. I don’t agree with that,” he said.
“These were justifiable homicides and that is the key point,” he added. This was not only the opinion of Van Schoor, but also that of the authorities in most of his cases.
Despite having murdered at least 39 people, he was only convicted of seven murders, while the other 32 recorded murders are still classified as “justifiable homicides” by the police.
Apartheid-era laws allowed people the right to use lethal force against intruders if they resisted arrest or fled once captured, a defense Van Schoor used to maintain his innocence when he claimed his victims were fleeing when he killed them.
Marlene, the sister of one of the victims, broke down as she detailed the devastation his murder brought to her family.
But evidence has mounted to contradict his claims, with harrowing testimony from victims who survived being shot by Van Schoor uncovered by the BBC investigation.
Several people said Van Schoor shot them after they surrendered while holding their hands up.
Others said he had played games with them, falsely asking them whether they would prefer to be arrested or shot before shooting them in the chest.
Another victim said that after being shot in the abdomen, he asked for water, before Van Schoor kicked him in the wound.
Surprisingly, all of the murders he committed between 1986 and 1989 were reported to the police by Van Schoor himself.
The shameless killer’s own testimony in the documentary is perhaps the most chilling account of what happened.
BBC documentary shares blurry images of some of Van Schoor’s victims
The investigation reviewed files and evidence about the deaths to uncover new information that raises questions about Van Schoor’s sentencing.
“Every night is a new adventure and that was exciting,” he tells the interviewer. “If the alarm went off in a factory or a shop, I would never drive up to it and stop in front of it.”
‘I would stop two or three shops away with night vision binoculars and then walk down. I usually worked barefoot, in silence. I relied heavily on my sense of smell.
“If someone breaks in, their adrenaline gives off a scent that you can smell. You get the feeling that you’re hunting a different species.”
As more and more people disappeared, black citizens of East London became increasingly fearful and word spread of a tall, bearded man nicknamed “Moustaches” who would stalk his victims with a gun before using it mercilessly.
Van Schoor was arrested in 1991, even though police knew of his crimes during his campaign of terror.
“He was a kind of vigilante killer. He was a Dirty Harry-type character,” says Isa Jacobson, a South African journalist who has spent 20 years investigating the Van Schoor case.
‘These were intruders who were often quite desperate. They would rummage through the bins, maybe steal some food… petty criminals.’
While Van Schoor terrorized the city’s impoverished black community, many white business owners who used his services hailed him as a hero.
One man even made money selling bumper stickers that read “I love Louis” and were decorated with a heart made of bullet holes.
Despite the horror he unleashed on his victims, Van Schoor boasted: “I have no sleepless nights. I have no memories of the past that haunt me.”
One of his victims was his father Edward Soenies, whom he murdered in 1987. Authorities placed his body in an unmarked grave before notifying his family.
While Van Schoor was terrorising the black community of East London, many deluded white businessmen who used his services hailed him as a hero.
Many of Van Schoor’s victims were poor people from the city’s slums.
Edward’s sister Marlene said: “It was devastating for the family. We were unable to recover his remains.
We believe that his spirit is lurking around here and that he is looking for a home. He is not with his ancestors. He does not know where he is.
Edward’s son, Raymond, was only six years old when his father was murdered, and he waited two years before discovering he was dead.
“After my father died, I changed completely because of the anger I had. My father loved me very much, so when I remember those things, it breaks my heart,” she said.
Speaking about the day her father disappeared, she said: “I would sit outside and wait until it got dark. I would wait for him to come home. My grandmother told me not to worry, that my father always came home. But I just felt in my heart that something was wrong. Two years later I found out that my father had died and that Van Schoor had murdered him.”
The documentary also captures the emotional moment when the family’s 35-year struggle to exhume and rebury Edward was finally successful.
This long-awaited closure brought the family a sense of peace, Raymond said. ‘My father comes in my dreams. I see that my father’s spirit was there and he was happy.
“Now all the family members are with him. He is free. Now I am free too. I am the proudest man in the world and now I have peace.”
The documentary captures the emotional moment when the family’s 35-year fight to exhume and bury Edward was finally successful.
This long-awaited closure brought a sense of peace, as Raymond told the BBC.
Many families remain in chaos as Van Schoor remains free after his relatives were unlawfully killed and prosecuted for their alleged crimes.
Van Schoor was finally arrested in 1991, shortly after Nelson Mandela’s release from prison ushered in a sea change in apartheid South Africa.
“Because of the change in the political situation in our country, there had to be a scapegoat somewhere and I was chosen,” Van Schoor said. “For all those years everything was fine and then suddenly everything was bad.”
His trial was one of the largest murder trials in South African history and he was sentenced to more than 90 years in prison.
However, he was allowed to serve each term concurrently and was released on parole in 2004.
Some have claimed he shot as many as 100 people. While Van Schoor said the number was not that high, he admitted he probably carried out more than 39 shootings.
“I don’t really know how many people I killed. Some say more than 100, others say 40… Let’s say, for the sake of debate, that I killed 50 people,” he said.
He added that he is proud of his past and has no feelings of guilt or remorse.
“Maybe the public wants me to apologize,” he said. “But I’m not going to make fun of my own beliefs just to please them… I have no remorse inside me. Because I don’t feel like I was wrong.”
