Beaten to death and fed to crocs

Couple killed on African nature trip, court hears

- DAN WARBURTON and JAMIE PYATT

A COUPLE were fed to crocodiles after being killed in a nature reserve, a court heard.

Respected botanists Rod Saunders, 74, and their wife Rachel, 63, were allegedly beaten to death, zipped into their sleeping bags, and tossed into croc-infested waters in South Africa.

Their decomposed bodies were later found by fishermen in the Ngoye Forest Reserve in the eastern province of KwaZulu Natal.

Now three people have gone on trial accused of their kidnap and murder.

Shortly after the disappearance in 2018, the defendants used the Britons' bank cards to withdraw around €45,000, Durban high court heard.

The Saunders Toyota Land Cruiser was also allegedly stolen.

Sayefundeen Aslam Del Vecchio, 39, his wife Bibi Fatima Patel, 28, and their lodger Mussa Ahmad Jackson, 35, deny all the charges.