Sizzlers massacre

2003 violence against the queer community in Cape Town, South Africa

33°54′51″S 18°23′23″E / 33.9141°S 18.3898°E / -33.9141; 18.3898Date20 January 2003WeaponsGuns, knivesDeaths9Injured1VictimsWarren Visser
Aubrey Otgaar
Sergio de Castro
Stephanus Fouche
Johan Meyer
Gregory Berghau
Travis Reade
Timothy Boyd
Marius Meyer[1]
PerpetratorsAdam Roy Woest
Trevor Basil Theys[1][3]

The Sizzlers massacre took place in Sea Point, Cape Town on 20 January 2003. Nine people were murdered and one person was severely injured in a hate crime against the queer community.[4][5]

The victims were shot and killed at a gay massage parlour named Sizzlers at 7 Graham Road. Adam Roy Woest and Trevor Basil Theys were convicted for the crime.[1][3] Woest stated that the initial reason for targeting the massage parlour was to rob it and steal money that Woest and Theys believed was held onsite.[3] Judge Nathan Erasmus described it as the "worst massacre that Cape Town and the country has ever seen."[4]

Woest and Theys were both found guilty of 9 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, and sentenced to life in prison.[6]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Petition against Sizzlers' killer's release on parole reaches close to 7000". www.iol.co.za. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Gay Massacre | Journeyman Pictures". www.journeyman.tv. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Theys's Sizzlers confession". News24. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  4. ^ a b Barnes, Clayton (19 January 2008). "Sizzlers massacre remains a mystery". Independent Online. Retrieved 7 June 2019.
  5. ^ "2003: Nigel Pierce remembers the Sizzlers massacre in Sea Point". CapeTalk. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  6. ^ Staff Reporter (16 March 2004). "Sizzlers killers get life". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2023.