In beautiful Caledon, a tragedy unfolds. The talented 16-year-old Deveny Nel’s death shocks the community and the nation. Julian Jansen investigates the events leading up to the tragedy and how the system failed three young victims: the 17-year-old boy who was previously accused of raping an 11-year-old girl, the traumatised girl who had to witness how the boy was released into his parent’s care without any state intervention, and Deveny, whom he murdered at his new school where no-one was aware of his past. Jansen reported on the case for Rapport since the beginning. He uses his police contacts to reconstruct the events of Deveny’s death while honouring the murdered youth.
Julian Jansen is an award-winning investigative journalist, and the author of the best-selling books Die De Zalze-moorde, Seuns sonder Pa’s, and Moord op Stellenbosch. He lives in Strand, Cape Town.