David Selepe never stood trial. In December 1994 South African police took him into custody as the chief suspect in a series of killings of young women in and around Cleveland, a district of Johannesburg, and he was then killed by a police officer. Everything said about his part in those killings rests on what police attributed to him. No confession is on record, he was not charged in a court, and no verdict was ever given.
The deaths attributed to Selepe took place in 1994 in and around Cleveland, east of Johannesburg. The Mail & Guardian, writing on September 22, 1995, described his arrest as being for the killing of 15 young women. A week earlier, on September 15, 1995, the same paper credited the series with 11 victims in Johannesburg during 1994. Reuters, in copy printed by the Deseret News on October 12, 1995, also gave 11 women. The reason for the difference is not on record, and the women's names are not on record.
The killings were separate, spread across the year, and the victims were young women. Individual dates are not on record.
Reuters reported that police took Selepe into custody in 1994 as the chief suspect in the Cleveland killings. The Mail & Guardian dated his arrest to December 1994. He did not survive custody. According to the police account carried by both outlets, he was killed by a police officer, who said Selepe had attacked him.
The exact date of his death is not on record, nor is any inquest, inquiry or court finding into his death. Only the police account of it is on record.
After his death police did not retreat from their position. The Mail & Guardian reported in September 1995 that police were adamant Selepe had been responsible for the Cleveland killings and that forensic evidence linked him to them beyond any dispute. Because he died before any hearing, that evidence was never put before a court and his guilt was never tested.
Police also believed, according to Reuters, that Selepe had not acted alone. A police official named Fivaz told reporters in October 1995 that investigators believed he had an accomplice, and Reuters recorded officials saying that two men had probably committed the murders together. The accomplice was not named, and no one is on record as held or charged.
Selepe's death in December 1994 did not end the questions. The Mail & Guardian wrote on September 22, 1995 that when he was arrested it had been thought that one of South Africa's worst runs of serial killings had ended. Then further killings came to light around Atteridgeville, near Pretoria, and, in the week of the article, at Boksburg. The paper said police kept quiet about new developments and suggested investigators did not agree among themselves. It reported public speculation about whether the Cleveland, Atteridgeville and Boksburg cases were connected, whether a copycat was at work, and whether the men responsible knew one another. On the Atteridgeville series it quoted the view that it could not have been the same person as the Cleveland series, and credited that series with 14 or 15 victims, the figure varying between its two articles. The Mail & Guardian of September 15, 1995 said there was still no certainty about the identity of the real killer behind the Cleveland series and recorded speculation that the Cleveland perpetrator had resumed in Atteridgeville.
On October 12, 1995 police named another man, Moses Sithole, as a suspect in the killings, released his photograph and said he was one of two serial killers they believed responsible for the deaths of about 40 women. Reuters described him as the second man named as a suspect, the first being Selepe. South African History Online records that Sithole was arrested on October 19, 1995 and was later sentenced to 2,410 years in prison. Which of the Cleveland deaths, if any, were later laid to Sithole in court is not on record, nor is any court consideration of Selepe's part.
Selepe's guilt. Police attributed the Cleveland killings to him and cited forensic evidence. No court examined it. He is not a convicted person.
The number of victims in the Cleveland series: 11 (Mail & Guardian, September 15, 1995; Reuters, October 12, 1995) or 15 (Mail & Guardian, September 22, 1995).
His death. Only the police account, that Selepe attacked an officer, is on record.
An accomplice. Police said they believed one existed; no name or charge is on record.
A link to later killings. Speculation only.
1994: the Cleveland killings, as attributed by police.
December 1994: Selepe is taken into police custody as the chief suspect and is then killed by a police officer.
September 15, 1995: the Mail & Guardian says the identity of the real perpetrator is still uncertain.
September 22, 1995: the Mail & Guardian reports that police still hold Selepe responsible and that further series are under investigation.
October 12, 1995: police name Moses Sithole as a suspect and say they believe Selepe had an accomplice.
October 19, 1995: Sithole is arrested.