A Danish national accused of mutilating several women and keeping their removed clitorises in his freezer is also suspected of involvement in the killing of his wife, South African police said Friday.
Peter Frederiksen, a 63-year-old gun shop owner, was arrested in the central city of Bloemfontein in September after his wife Anna Matseliso Molise told police that he assaulted her and mutilated her genitals.
Molise, 28, was set to be the state’s key witness against Frederiksen before she was gunned down outside her house in Maseru, the capital of neighbouring Lesotho, a two-hour drive from Bloemfontein.
Police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi confirmed Frederiksen faces charges of conspiracy to murder Matseliso, as well as three counts of assault, bigamy, and production and distribution of child pornography.
“The ‘conspiracy to murder’ charge was confirmed yesterday,” Mulaudzi told AFP, adding that the charge related to Frederiksen’s suspected links to his wife’s killing.
She had told police she was drugged with laced champagne when she was mutilated.
The couple had two children together.
When police searched Frederiksen’s modest townhouse in Bloemfontein, they discovered more than 10 frozen pieces from the genitals of seven women, as well as pornographic photographs of children, investigators have said.
Frederiksen, who has yet to enter a plea, this week appeared at Bloemfontein Magistrates’ Court for a bail hearing that was adjourned until next Thursday.
Police have issued an appeal for Frederiksen’s alleged victims to come forward.
No one has been arrested for the murder of his wife.