Freddie Stapelberg: Boyfriend who accused Zimbabwean gardener of killing wife, son arrested
In a shocking twist to the ongoing investigations into the murders of Nadine Terblanche and her son Ruandré, Gauteng police turned the case on its head when, on Friday, 12 January 2024, Stapelberg was arrested and charged with the Langenhoven Street double murders.
This was an unexpected development, considering a suspect, 37-year-old Pardon Danhire, a gardener who serviced Nadine and Stapelberg’s property on Langenhoven Street for years, is currently being prosecuted for the double murder.
However, as we had previously reported, a source close to the situation had vehemently cast doubt on Danhire’s culpability in killing Nadine and her son.
At the time, rumours were fluttering about, suggesting Danhire had viciously gutted Nadine and her nine-year-old son over payment disparities.
“I know for a fact that’s not true. They had no problem with money. They had no problem with paying their people. They never had a problem with any of that. Like I said, I know that this guy (the gardener) has been with them for years,” the source said.
In fact, according to the insider, who vehemently stressed that we protect her identity for her own safety, Danhire had practically watched Nadine’s kids “grow up in front of him.”
“So, it’s not that they didn’t pay him. If it was him, there must’ve been another reason, but financial, definitely not,” the source said.
Revisiting the night Nadine Terblanche and her son was killed
Nadine Terblanche and her son, Ruandré Vorster, were tragically killed inside their home on Langenhoven Street, Randhart, on the evening of Monday, 27 November 2023.
Previous accounts suggested that Stapelberg had walked in on Danhire moments after he had done away with Nadine and Ruandré, and that, he was the one whom the gardener allegedly attacked with an axe.
According to authorities, at the time, Stapelberg “notified a security guard who responded quickly and stopped the garden worker.”
Stapelberg’s whereabouts on the night of the Langenhoven Street double murder came under the spotlight after Danhire abandoned his bail and recruited the services of a lawyer, who reliably informed authorities to look closer at the boyfriend.
According to Stapelberg, he last spoke to Terblanche on that fateful afternoon. From what we understand, Nadine and her son were preparing for Ruandré’s prize-giving ceremony taking place at Laerskool Randhart Amptelik later that evening.
When Stapelberg arrived home from work, he allegedly discovered the axe-wielding gardener inside the house right after he had strangled Nadine and Ruandré to death.
A brief scuffle allegedly ensued and, somehow, Stapelberg managed to subdue Danhire and call for help. The Zimbabwean national was taken into custody that evening.
It seems, with Stapelberg’s arrest, police may have uncovered further incriminating evidence that not only pokes holes in the boyfriend’s alibi but places him at the scene of the double murder as an alleged perpetrator.
Motive remains unknown in Nadine’s murder, albeit, our insider did make startling revelations about Terblanche’s fears before she died.
Moreover, one of Nadine’s last Facebook posts before she was killed suggested trouble in paradise. In a post she shared three weeks before her murder, which, among other tribulations, highlighted those “whose spouse has become cold,” Nadine, using a meme, wrote, “Here, ek is moeg (I am tired).”
Coincidentally, Nadine’s toddler daughter, whom she shared with Stapelberg, was not at home when she and Ruandré were killed that evening.
Stapelberg will make his first court appearance in Alberton, on Monday, 15 January 2024.
