TRAIL OF TRAGEDY: Mario Tsawe, 29, has been arrested for the murders of siblings Dennis and Crystal Roberts.
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The 75-year-old man, who was allegedly killed by his gay lover in a Durban motel this week, was twice lured on-line by the same man in different guises – and the second time it proved fatal.
Having met Marlo Shwane, 29, several months ago on gay dating website Gaydar, Dennis Roberts looked for new friends on a second gay website, Silver Daddies, after the relationship with Shwane soured, and connected with a man calling himself Ernest, which Roberts’s family believe was an alias used by Shwane to re-establish contact.
On the eve of his murder, Crystal Roberts, 72, begged her brother Dennis not to meet the young lover he had found on-line. “Please don’t go. You’re going to get yourself killed,” she warned.
But he ignored his sister’s pleas and left the Durban North home they shared, allegedly to rendezvous with Shwane.
Less than 24 hours later, Roberts was killed and his sister killed too, presumably because he left his cellphone with her for safekeeping and which, it is alleged, contained incriminating SMS exchanges.
Shwane, of the Eastern Cape, has been charged with the murders and will appear in the Durban High Court on Friday.
Yesterday the victims’ close-knit family appealed to the Tribune to warn heterosexuals and homosexuals to avoid internet dating.
Crystal’s son, Rick Gerrard, said Roberts met Shwane on Gaydar and although the relationship quickly soured, his uncle continued to assist the unemployed man financially.
Jenni Gerrard, one of Crystal’s three daughters, said: “On Sunday morning my mom frantically tried to stop Dennis meeting up with Marlo, but failed. Dennis was such a kind man, though, and he had fallen hard for Marlo. He never believed he could hurt him.”
Jenni said her mother had strong reservations about dating websites, and had warned Dennis how vulnerable he was as a gay man in the wake of news reports about a series of homosexual murders in Gauteng.
Rick, who also lived in the Glen Hills house, said: “Dennis was not ashamed of his discovery, late in life, that he was attracted to his own sex, and neither was his family, but we wanted him to be safe. He was just incapable of seeing the bad in anyone. Because he spent most of his life in the UK, and only returned permanently to Durban 18 months ago, he had no understanding of the criminal mindset in South Africa.”
Rick said homosexuality was “just a small part of my uncle’s life”. Dennis was married for more than 25 years, separating from his wife, Margaret, in 1999.
The couple have three children and six grandchildren, who were all devoted to him.
Sam Roberts, who attended Friday’s memorial service at The Rock church in Umhlanga on behalf of his mother and sisters, Elizabeth and Rebecca, who live in the UK, said: “My dad was an enormously understanding, supportive and compassionate man. He never pressurised his children to achieve his dreams; he wanted above all for us to be happy. We wanted the same thing for him.”
According to Rick, Dennis was open about his gay relationship, but Crystal felt her brother was being exploited.
Jenni said: “Marlo lost his job just after they got together, and moved into my mom and uncle’s home for three weeks.”
“Mom fled to Cape Town to visit me. When she got back, Dennis rented a flat and for the next three months he spent part of the week with mom, and part with Mario.
“He started to resent the fact that Mario was not making an effort to get a job, but he didn’t seem able to cut ties. We warned him he was being manipulated, and we were horrified by the abusive way Mario would speak to him.”
On Sunday, Rick said, Dennis received a call from Tsawe, begging for money.
“Dennis left his cellphone and bank cards at home, to reassure my mom, and borrowed her car to go to the motel. He was last seen alive at 1.30am on Monday morning, when he went onto a balcony at the Formula One to have a cigarette.”
According to the family, Tsawe was recorded on CCTV going back to the flat at 8.30am. At 9.43am there was a missed call on Dennis’s phone at Crystal’s house. At 10.30am in Verulam, money was drawn from one of Dennis’s accounts.
Tsawe was arrested in the Eastern Cape.
Rick said finding his mother’s body had broken his heart. “I felt total sadness. She did not deserve it.”
He said if the judicial system did not mete out adequate punishment, he would feel “obliged to take the law into my own hands”. – Sunday Tribune
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Net twist to gay murder