A pregnant mother was hacked to death in her bed and her husband was repeatedly stabbed by attackers during a luxury break at a South African resort.
Karen Turner – who was said to be three months pregnant – was asleep with her husband Matthew, 33, and their toddler son Hayden when they were attacked at around 3 am.
The family had booked into the Hluleka Nature Reserve on the Wild Coast in the Eastern Cape when two men armed with knives sneaked into their self-contained chalet overlooking the beach.
It is believed school teacher Karen, 31, died almost instantly in a hail of knife blows as her husband Matthew, who was stabbed several times, chased off the attackers.
The horrific attack on the South African family left Matthew a widower and his 23-month-old son motherless.
It comes just days before Prince Harry is due to arrive in South Africa with his wife Meghan and son Archie.
The royal couple is taking their son on a tour to visit Harry’s ‘favourite place in the world’ – where crime is spiralling out of control with over 21,000 murders and 45,000 rapes carried out last year.
The army is currently deployed on the streets in townships on the outskirts of Cape Town to try and prevent more killings.
South African Police said they have one suspect they are trying to trace and confirmed his arrest will be made very shortly.
Karen’s older brother Ian Crouch told News24 that he had spoken to his brother-in-law when he came out of life-saving surgery after being airlifted to Pietermaritzburg Hospital.
He said: ‘Matthew’s recollection was that he was woken up by being stabbed in the stomach by a guy on his side of the bed and there was another chap stabbing my sister.
‘He said he managed to sort of grab the guy and there was a tussle down the stairs’.
Mr Crouch drove to the scene, which he described as a ‘blood bath’, and said the balcony door had been open and the windows on latches as it was a hot night.
He confirmed it appeared nothing had been stolen and that their mobiles were by their bed.
Timber merchant Mr Crouch also confirmed his sister, who taught at Underberg Primary School in their home town in KwaZulu-Natal province, was about three months pregnant.
Both mother and her unborn child were killed in the attack which turned the bedroom, stairs and downstairs into a bloodbath as the brave husband chased off the two men.
The couple lived in Underberg where they had just bought a home together on the farm Matthew manages. They married in July 2017, and Hayden was born four months later.
Friends of the couple, who were on holiday with them, were awoken by the sounds of a struggle and Hayden screaming. They hammered on the door and Matthew answered covered in blood.
A family friend of the couple was fortunately not injured in the horror attack.
Mr Turner was airlifted by helicopter to hospital but nothing could be done to save his wife and unborn child.
Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency CEO Vuyani Dayimani said: ‘The two guests were booked in from Monday to Thursday and police were called after a stabbing incident.
‘The police have confirmed one visitor passed away and another is in hospital.
‘As an agency who manages the reserve, we are shocked that his taken place in one of our flagship coastal reserves as the safety and security of our guests is our key priority’.
