Sipho Thwala

Sipho Thwala
Sipho Thwala
Born	Sipho Mandla Agmatir Thwala; KwaMashu, South Africa
Other names	"The Phoenix Strangler"
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment; (506 years)
Details
Victims	16+
Span of crimes	1996–1997
Country	South Africa
Date apprehended	14 August 1997

Sipho Mandla Agmatir Thwala is a South African rapist and serial killer who was convicted in 1999 for the murders of 16 women and 10 rapes. He was sentenced to 506 years in prison. Thwala was known by the moniker the Phoenix Strangler.

Early life

Sipho Mandla Agmatir Thwala was born and raised in KwaMashu.^{[citation needed]}

Crimes

Thwala began his year-long rape and murder spree in 1996 in South Africa's

Phoenix with the promise of employment as domestic workers in nearby hotels. Once they were deep within the cane fields, Thwala would attack the women, bind them with their own undergarments and then rape and strangle them to death.^[2]

He relied on physical evidence of his attacks being destroyed through the common farming practice of burning cane fields, which set the police investigation back until a body was eventually discovered that had not yet been burned.

The killer became known as "the Phoenix Strangler".[2]

Arrest and conviction

Thwala was arrested in 1997 after South African police matched DNA found on the victims to DNA taken from Thwala in 1994 when he had been arrested and acquitted of a rape.^[2]

On 31 March 1999, the High Court in Durban found Thwala guilty of 16 murders and 10 rapes and sentenced him to 506 years in prison.^[1]

Thwala is being held at

C Max Penitentiary in Pretoria, South Africa.^{[citation needed}

]

In popular media

Thwala's case is featured in episodes 8 and 9 of the

forensic psychologist and investigator Micki Pistorius helps to obtain a conviction.^[3]^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Serial Killer Hit List
^ ^a ^b ^c Discovery Channel: Crimes and Forensics. Crimes That Shook The World. Archived 2009-12-08 at the Wayback Machine
^ Cannon, Nicholas (2 March 2024). "Catch Me A Killer: release date, cast, plot, trailer, episode guide, exclusive interview and everything you need to know". whattowatch.com. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
^ Goldbart, Max (25 January 2024). "'Catch Me a Killer': Showmax unveils trailer for serial killer profiler series starring 'Game of Thrones' Charlotte Hope" (video + text). Deadline.