Dr Candice Hansmeyer has spent her career speaking for the dead — first in South Africa’s chaotic mortuaries, now in Canada’s pristine labs.
In this deeply human episode of Profiler Africa, she joins Paul Llewellyn and Prof Gerard Labuschagne to unpack the realities of modern forensic pathology.
Together they explore:
The stark contrast between South Africa’s crisis and Canada’s calm
The emotional and ethical pressure of working where death never stops
Why good science depends on good systems — and good people
It’s raw, intelligent, and unforgettable — a story of death, dignity, and discovery.
🎧 Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts
📩 Questions or sponsorships: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍 Website: plotshift.co.za
#ProfilerAfrica #ForensicPathology #CandiceHansmeyer #GerardLabuschagne #TrueCrime #SouthAfrica #ForensicScience #CrimePodcast #Autopsy #DeathInvestigation #SAPS #Justice #CriminalProfiling #RealCrimeStories #ForensicExperts
People disappear every day — but what happens when someone is kidnapped for ransom?
This week on Profiler Africa, forensic psychologist Gerard Labuschagne and host Paul Llewellyn go deep into the world of kidnap-for-ransom, joined by Vincent Swardt, a veteran crisis-response consultant who’s negotiated releases in DRC, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
Vincent reveals what really happens behind the scenes:
🔸 How kidnappers choose their victims🔸 What goes on during ransom negotiations🔸 Why professional hostage negotiators succeed where police can’t🔸 Why South Africa has become a kidnapping hotspot🔸 How victims survive — and what families must never do
It’s tense, revealing, and grounded in real-world experience — a masterclass in crisis psychology.
🎧 Listen now.
📩 Questions or sponsorships: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍 Website: plotshift.co.za
#KidnapForRansom #HostageNegotiation #VincentSwardt #GerardLabuschagne #ProfilerAfrica #TrueCrimeSouthAfrica #CrisisResponse #ForensicPsychology #RealCrimeStories
Between 2017 and 2019, five women vanished in Masoyi, Mpumalanga. Their bodies were later found buried on the killer’s own property — a chilling signature of control and dominance.
In this episode, Gerard Labuschagne and Paul Llewellyn are joined by Colonel (Ret.) Kirsten Clark, former SAPS Investigative Psychologist & Criminal Behaviour Specialist, to dissect one of South Africa’s most disturbing serial murder cases.
They explore:
🔸 How the disappearances were linked and the series uncovered🔸 Why burial on home ground reveals the killer’s mindset🔸 Psychological insights from Kirsten’s profile of the accused🔸 How investigative psychology guided the Masoyi task team🔸 What this case says about rural serial offending in South Africa
It’s dark, methodical, and deeply human — a case study in the mind of a killer and the people who stop them.
🎧 Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
📩 Contact: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍 Website: plotshift.co.za
#ProfilerAfrica #Masoyi #SerialKiller #GerardLabuschagne #KirstenClark #TrueCrime #SouthAfrica #ForensicPsychology #InvestigativePsychology #SAPS #CrimeDocumentary #CriminalProfiling
This week on Profiler Africa, Paul and Gerard Labuschagne unpack one of the strangest and most misunderstood areas in forensic psychology: autoerotic fatality.
These are accidental deaths that occur during solo sexual activity when methods used to heighten arousal — like asphyxiation, electrocution, or body wrapping — end in tragedy. Misunderstood, often staged by families, and sometimes mistaken for suicide or murder, these cases present unique challenges for investigators and forensic psychologists.
Gerard takes us inside this hidden phenomenon: what it is, how it happens, why it matters legally, and what myths need debunking.
In this episode:
• Definition & Scope — what autoerotic fatality is and how it differs from suicide.
• The Psychology — the role of asphyxophilia and oxygen deprivation in arousal.
• Methods & MO — from ligatures to electrocution and immersion.
• Legal Implications — why classification matters for families, insurers, and investigators.
• Myths vs Reality — who the victims really are.
• Identification Criteria — how investigators distinguish accidents from suicides or homicides.
• Staging & Misinterpretation — when scenes are altered to hide embarrassment.
• Case Studies — real examples that illustrate how these cases unfold.
📩 Questions or sponsorships: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍 Website: plotshift.co.za
#ProfilerAfrica #AutoeroticFatality #GerardLabuschagne #ForensicPsychology #Profiler #CrimeExplained #TrustNobody
This week on Profiler Africa, Paul and Gerard Labuschagne unpack one of the strangest and most misunderstood areas in forensic psychology: autoerotic fatality.
These are accidental deaths that occur during solo sexual activity when methods used to heighten arousal — like asphyxiation, electrocution, or body wrapping — end in tragedy. Misunderstood, often staged by families, and sometimes mistaken for suicide or murder, these cases present unique challenges for investigators and forensic psychologists.
Gerard takes us inside this hidden phenomenon: what it is, how it happens, why it matters legally, and what myths need debunking.
In this episode:
• Definition & Scope — what autoerotic fatality is and how it differs from suicide.
• The Psychology — the role of asphyxophilia and oxygen deprivation in arousal.
• Methods & MO — from ligatures to electrocution and immersion.
• Legal Implications — why classification matters for families, insurers, and investigators.
• Myths vs Reality — who the victims really are.
• Identification Criteria — how investigators distinguish accidents from suicides or homicides.
• Staging & Misinterpretation — when scenes are altered to hide embarrassment.
• Case Studies — real examples that illustrate how these cases unfold.
📩 Questions or sponsorships: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍 Website: plotshift.co.za
#ProfilerAfrica #AutoeroticFatality #GerardLabuschagne #ForensicPsychology #Profiler #CrimeExplained #TrustNobody
This week on Profiler Africa, Paul and Gerard Labuschagne are joined by Dr Nathan Brooks, a forensic psychologist and senior lecturer recognised internationally for his research on psychopathy and behavioural risk.
Dr Brooks has worked with government, law enforcement, and the private sector on threat assessment, lone-actor violence, and personality disorders, and is known for cutting through myths about psychopaths — not just in criminal settings but also in workplaces and everyday life.
In this episode, we look at psychopathy through a New Zealand lens. From lone-actor violence and radicalisation to the rise of “successful” or corporate psychopaths, Dr Brooks and Gerard unpack what makes someone dangerous, how risk is assessed, and whether we can ever truly predict violence before it happens.
• Psychopaths in New Zealand — how they show up in both crime and corporate life.
• Risk & Threat Assessment — tools used to spot danger before it strikes.
• Lone-Actor Violence — what NZ has learned since Christchurch, and what risks remain.
• Corporate Psychopaths — why some thrive in boardrooms rather than behind bars.
• Myths vs Reality — what people get wrong about psychopathy, and what the science actually shows.
📩 Questions or sponsorships: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍 Website: plotshiftcrime.co.za
#ProfilerAfrica #Psychopathy #NewZealand #GerardLabuschagne #NathanBrooks #ForensicPsychology #ThreatAssessment #CorporatePsychopaths #ViolencePrevention #PlotShiftCrime
In this episode:
This week on Profiler Africa, South Africa's leading forensic psychologist Gerard Labuschagne unpacks one of Pretoria’s most disturbing serial murder cases — the case of Themba Vilakazi, known as the Railway Killer.
Between July and November 2005, three males — including an 11-year-old schoolboy — were brutally murdered along Pretoria’s railway lines and near the zoo. Victims were stabbed in the chest or neck, often left partially unclothed, and abandoned near the rail corridor. Years later, a 2012 rape case finally linked Vilakazi to the murders through DNA.
In this episode:
• The Crimes: How three murders in just months terrorised Pretoria.
• The Modus Operandi: Vilakazi’s pattern of targeting strangers and leaving bodies exposed.
• The Satanist Defence: Why he claimed voices from the “underworld” ordered the killings, and how the court exposed it as malingering.
• The DNA Link: How a later rape arrest cracked open the cold cases.
• Sentencing: Why experts testified he was a serial murderer who could never be rehabilitated.
This is a chilling story of delusion, manipulation, and cold-blooded violence — and a reminder of how DNA and persistence finally caught the Railway Killer.
📩 Questions or sponsorships: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍 Website: plotshift.co.za
Gérard Labuschagne and Paul Vivare joined by world-renowned arson investigator Ed Nordskog to dissect the chilling case of Justin Caruso, a serial arsonist whose crimes spanned three US states.
Caruso’s fires weren’t random. He staged them to look accidental, inserted himself into investigations, and sought recognition as a “hero.” One blaze killed a 74-year-old man in Mesa, Arizona; another nearly claimed the life of an elderly woman just a week later.
Nordskog, who personally analysed the case, explains how investigators uncovered Caruso’s evolving M.O. andexposed the psychology driving his crimes. Gérard provides forensic insight into Hero Syndrome, fire-setter psychology, and why arson cases remain among the most complex to prosecute.
In this episode:
🔥The fatal Mesa fire and its investigation.
🔥How fires in Arizona, Texas, and Massachusetts were linked.
🔥The psychology of fire-setters and Hero Syndrome.
🔥Why this case became the IAAI’s International Case of the Year.
📩 Questions, comments, or sponsorships: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍More: plotshift.co.za
For more information on guest Ed Nordskog visit: www.arsonprofiler.com
In January 2003, Cape Town was rocked by one of the most brutal mass murders in South African history. Inside a massage parlour called Sizzlers, ten men were bound, tortured, and executed. Nine died. One man — Quinton Taylor — miraculously survived.
This was the Sizzlers Massacre: a crime of staggering cruelty, officially recognised as a hate crime against the queer community. The killers, Adam Woest and Trevor Theys, claimed it was a robbery gone wrong — but the evidence revealed something far darker.
In this gripping episode of Profiler Africa, host Paul Llewellyn is joined by South Africa’s leading true crime voice, Nicole Engelbrecht — author of Sizzlers: The Hate Crime That Tore Sea Point Apart. Through Nicole’s meticulous research and rare survivor testimony from Quinton Taylor, we revisit that night, unpack the leader–follower dynamic behind the violence, and confront the uncomfortable questions the case still raises — especially as one of the killers now seeks parole.
🎧 Listen Now on Spotify & Apple Podcasts
📚 Read the Book: Sizzlers: The Hate Crime That Tore Sea Point Apart by Nicole Engelbrecht
🎙 Nicole’s Podcast: True Crime South Africa — available wherever you get your podcasts
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💡 Don’t miss an episode — follow & subscribe now, and remember… trust nobody.
This week on Profiler Africa, Paul Viv and Dr. Gerard Labuschagne sit down with Nicole Engelbrecht – South Africa’s leading true crime voice, creator of the chart-topping True Crime South Africa podcast, and author of multiple acclaimed books.
In Part 1 of this exclusive two-part interview, Nicole opens up about leaving corporate life to build a victim-first media platform, her journey as an author, and the ethics of telling stories of tragedy.
The discussion shifts to one of South Africa’s most haunting school attacks – the Morné Harmse “Samurai Sword” case – and his controversial release on parole. Nicole shares her in-depth research from Samurai Sword Murder, while Gerard unpacks the failures of risk assessment in South Africa’s parole system.
In this episode:
Nicole’s journey into true crime and victim-focused storytelling
The parole controversy surrounding Morné Harmse
Systemic challenges in South Africa’s parole and justice system
How the Sizzlers Massacre shaped Nicole’s advocacy
🎧 Part 2 next week: A deep dive into the Sizzlers Massacre.
For questions or sponsorships: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
Website: plotshift.co.za
This week on Profiler Africa, forensic psychologist Gerard Labuschagne sits down with Peter Collins, a globally recognized operational forensic psychiatrist who’s spent over 30 years on the frontline of violent crime investigations.
Collins isn’t a “profiler”—he’s a psychiatrist who’s shaped how police understand, manage, and investigate high-risk offenders. From hostage negotiations and threat assessments to developing tools like ViCLAS for linking violent crimes, Collins has worked with agencies across North America, Europe, and beyond, including the FBI, Interpol, and Europol.
In this episode:
Forensic Psychiatry in Action – How psychiatry supports investigations, policing, and public safety.
Threat Assessment & Hostage Negotiation – Lessons from decades with Toronto Police’s Emergency Task Force.
Linkage Systems – The creation of ViCLAS and its role in connecting violent crimes.
Global Perspective – Collaborating with elite law enforcement worldwide.
Beyond Profiling – Why understanding behavior runs deeper than just “profiling.”
With multiple national honors and a forthcoming Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Homicide Investigators Association, Peter Collins brings unmatched expertise to this conversation.
🎧 Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms
☕ Support the show: coff.ee/profiler | patreon.com/profilerafrica
📩 Questions or sponsorships: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍 More: plotshiftcrime.co.za
#ProfilerAfrica #PeterCollins #ForensicPsychiatry #ThreatAssessment #HostageNegotiation #ViCLAS #TrueCrime #ViolentCrimeInvestigation
This week, forensic psychologist Gerard Labuschagne takes us inside one of South Africa’s most disturbing — yet largely ignored — serial murder cases.
Between 2007 and 2009, 16 women and a child were raped, strangled and dumped in the bushveld around Westonaria and Lenasia. Most victims were unidentified. Many were unemployed, vulnerable, and invisible to the public eye. But not to their killer — Madumetja Jack Mogale.
In this episode:
From con-man prophet to convicted killer, this is the story of The Westonaria Strangler — a case that should have shaken the nation.
🎧Subscribe & follow Profiler Africa📬 Contact: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🌍 Website: plotshift.co.za
For years, Profiler Africa has warned that cracks were forming inside South Africa’s law enforcement system. This week, those cracks turned into a full-blown fracture.
Explosive allegations by KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi — pointing to a criminal syndicate operating within the SAPS — have forced the President’s hand, sidelined the Police Minister, and plunged the country into chaos.
In this episode, we strip away the headlines and ask:
What does this mean for the average citizen?
How do corrupt systems rot from within?
And what happens when the institution meant to protect you is part of the threat?
Then:
Gerard Labuschagne takes your questions in a no-holds-barred Q&A — on crime, unsolved cases, and what it's really like inside the mind of a killer.
This isn’t just news. It’s a reckoning.
——
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🌍 More: plotshiftcrime.co.za
#ProfilerAfrica #SAPS #PoliceCorruption #SouthAfricaCrisis #NhlanhlaMkhwanazi #GerardLabuschagne #StateCapture #TrueCrimeSA #ForensicPsychology #SouthAfricanPolitics
Ask ChatGPT
This week on Profiler Africa, South Africa's leading forensic psychologist Gerard Labuschagne takes us inside a shocking event that rocked an affluent Johannesburg suburb: the 2011 Rosebank Police Station shooting. More than just a lone disgruntled employee, this case exposes the dangerous cracks within law enforcement and the chilling reality of workplace violence.
We delve into:
The Perpetrator & The Spark: Who was Kekana, the admin clerk whose dismissal triggered this tragedy, and what was the seemingly minor fraud that set it all in motion?
Ignored Warnings: The explicit threats made to Captain Neelavathie NAIDU and other officers before the shooting – and why these critical warning signs were dismissed.
Systemic Failure: Kekana's troubling access to firearms, the lack of proactive threat management within SAPS, and how internal dynamics contributed to the disaster.
Explosive Allegations: We also include a critical current affairs segment unpacking recent, high-level corruption claims by a provincial police commissioner, revealing how powerful criminal syndicates may control elements within Parliament, police, and the judiciary.
Lessons NOT Learned: Why, even after this horrific incident, crucial changes to police protocol and employee safety never materialized.
Also this week: Don't miss the next episode of our documentary series South African Serial – covering the infamous case of Donovan Moodley and the kidnap and murder of Leigh Matthews. This episode will be live for all viewers on Thursday, July 10th at 8 AM SAST.
🌟 Support Profiler AfricaIf you value our independent work, please consider supporting the show. Your contributions help us continue to bring you these in-depth investigations:
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Visit our website: plotshift.co.za
This week on Profiler Africa, forensic psychologist Gérard Labuschagne uncovers the terrifying world of muti murders — killings where body parts are harvested for traditional medicine. These aren’t random acts of violence. They’re deliberate, driven by belief, greed, and an underground economy that thrives in the shadows.
We dive into:
What muti murder really means — and why it’s not just “ritual”
A shocking case of a mother who killed her own child
How investigators navigate cultural taboos, community silence, and legal blind spots
Why justice rarely comes for the victims
Recorded live on YouTube | 1 July
Hosted by Paul Llewellyn & Gerard Labuschagne
Support the show:
🔗 Patreon.com/profilerafrica
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🌍 More at: plotshiftcrime.co.za
This week, Profiler Africa goes behind the scenes of South Africa’s most high-stakes standoffs with Dr Ernst Strydom — SAPS’ former National Coordinator of Hostage Negotiations.
Host Paul Llewellyn and forensic psychologist Gerard Labuschagne dig into the psychology of crisis and negotiation, guided by the man who trained the nation’s negotiators and led SAPS through hijackings, bomb threats, and terrorist incidents.
🔍 In this episode:
What makes a hostage-taker tick — and how negotiators break the cycle
Inside SAPS responses to terrorism, kidnappings, and mass casualty events
The anatomy of a standoff — and what finally makes people crack
Where SAPS got crisis psychology right… and where it didn’t
👤 About our guest:
Dr Ernst Strydom is a retired SAPS colonel, educational psychologist, and one of South Africa’s leading voices in hostage negotiation and trauma response. Over 30 years, he built and led the country’s negotiation units, trained over 70 teams, and represented SAPS internationally — including at the FBI Academy.
🧠 New episodes weekly. Subscribe and follow to stay updated.
📩 Got questions or feedback? Email: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
🔗 More: plotshiftcrime.co.za
Follow Profiler Africa on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
In this explosive episode, Paul and Gerard sit down with retired Colonel Tollie Vreugdenburg — former head of SAPS Counter-Terrorism — to expose the chilling truth behind one of the most dangerous domestic terror plots in South African history: the Boeremag.
This white supremacist militia planned to bomb the country into civil war, assassinate Nelson Mandela, and launch a violent coup. But thanks to Tollie and a small team of investigators, South Africa narrowly avoided its own 9/11.
Inside the episode:
Who the Boeremag were — and why they were more dangerous than you think
“Document 12”: the plan for a white ethnostate
Bombings, betrayal, and a doomsday that almost happened
How the police cracked the plot just in time
Religious prophecy, survivalism, and apocalyptic racism
Why this case still matters today
About our guest:
Col. Tollie Vreugdenburg led the SAPS investigation that brought the Boeremag down. A veteran of Limpopo’s Murder and Robbery unit, he was central to exposing the coup plot. He also contributed to The High Treason Club, the definitive book on the case.
🎥 Watch the full episode on YouTube: Profiler Africa
📅 Premiering Tuesday 10 June, 8pm CAT
Support & Follow:
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Website: plotshiftcrime.co.za
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Email us: profilerafricainfo@gmail.com
#ProfilerAfrica #Boeremag #HighTreason #SouthAfricanTrueCrime #DomesticTerror #SAPS #MandelaPlot #ColTollieVreugdenburg #GerardLabuschagne #PaulLlewellyn
This week on Profiler Africa, we go deep into one of the most brutal and misunderstood crime waves in South Africa — farm murders.
Host Paul Llewellyn and forensic psychologist Gerard Labuschagne are joined by veteran detective Gawie “Sakkie” Louwrens, who’s investigated over 300 farm killings. Now retired from SAPS, Sakkie leads an independent rural crime unit taking on what the police can’t — or won’t.
Forget the headlines and political spin. This episode is about the real people living — and dying — on South Africa’s farms.
🔍 What we cover:
What the stats really say about farm attacks
Why economics, not race, drives most of these crimes
Six harrowing cases: torture, arson, air rifles, and more
The myth of “white genocide” and how it hurts real prevention
Survivors, families, and the frontline investigators
What needs to change to break the cycle
🧠 Guest:
Gawie “Sakkie” Louwrens — 26 years in SAPS, former head of Limpopo’s murder and organised crime unit, now founder of Bosveld Misdaad Ondersoeke, an independent rural crime task team.
—
New episodes every Tuesday
🕗 This week’s episode drops 3 June at 8pm CAT
—
Support the show:
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🔗 plotshiftcrime.co.za
Profiler Africa | Episode Out Now
Who’s really killing who in South Africa?
In one of our most explosive episodes yet, Paul Llewellyn and forensic psychologist Gerard Labuschagne sit down with Dr Chris de Kock, former head of SAPS Crime Research, to pull the mask off one of South Africa’s most politicised crime topics: farm murders.
Forget the hashtags, headlines, and hype. We’re cutting through the myth, the fear, and the politics — and getting to the truth.
What farm murders are — and what they’re not
Whether white farmers are being specifically targeted
Why the “white genocide” narrative won’t die
What SAPS stats say vs. AfriForum's claims
How race, media and fear shape the national story
What needs to change in how we talk about and prevent rural crime
Dr Chris de Kock is South Africa’s former head of Crime Information Analysis at SAPS. For decades, he’s been inside the system — and he knows what the numbers really say.
📺 Watch the full episode on YouTube
🕗 Tuesday 27 May | 8PM CAT
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🔎 This episode unpacks:🎙️ Guest Spotlight:💥 Support & Connect:
We delve into one of the most disturbing familicides in South African history — the Etwatwa family murders.
On May 23, 2013, a 14-year-old boy in Johannesburg’s East Rand took an axe to his mother, grandmother, six-year-old brother, and four-month-old sister. Four lives ended in one night. A quiet street turned crime scene. A community left reeling. And a nation asking: how could a child commit such horror?
We unpack the chilling events, the whispers of satanism and abuse, and the state's struggle to understand a boy turned killer. With little media coverage and fewer answers, a small team of investigators worked in the shadows to piece together a case that still haunts many today.
⚠️ Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence and emotionally raw interviews. Some language reflects the trauma experienced by those involved. Listener discretion is strongly advised.
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#SouthAfricanSerial #EtwatwaMurders #TrueCrimePodcast #ProfilerAfrica #Familicide #JuvenileKiller #CrimeStories #DifficultTruths