Ninth woman’s body found as South Africa probes series of killings

All female victims in their 20s and 30s were killed on the outskirts of Johannesburg in the past two months.police have found the body of another murdered woman on the outskirts of South Africa’s commercial capital – after the discovery of eight female corpses in the same area of Johannesburg in the past two months.police said they found the body of a ninth woman and imposed a lockdown in Kempton Park in the Ekurhuleni municipality on Thursday. Three of the partially naked bodies were found in the area this week.The string of murders has stoked public anxiety that these crimes may have been carried out by a serial killer. police earlier said that some similarities in the killings of the first eight victims were “sufficiently concerning” for the police to issue a public warning.“Investigators are considering all possibilities, including the possibility of multiple suspects or separate perpetrators,” said Fred Kekana, the police commissioner for South Africa’s Gauteng province.The first five bodies were discovered in or near Kempton Park; the others were found in separate locations 25-35km (16-22 miles) away.“police are comparing the evidence, timelines, locations, victim profiles and circumstances of each case,” Kekana said, adding that while it is too early to connect the killings to a serial killer, “the similarities in the cases were concerning”.All were women in their 20s or 30s, and all were found either naked or partially clothed, police said. Some of the bodies had similar bruising.The first body was discovered on July 17, naked and restrained with cable ties. A suspect believed to have been the victim’s boyfriend was arrested and taken into custody, according to police, though no charges were filed against him.