Veteran former police detective Piet Byleveld has died in Johannesburg. Messages of condolences to his family and friends were already being shared on his Facebook wall. Byleveld‚ dubbed the "man hunter"‚ was regarded as the country’s top detective for his track record of apprehending some of the worst criminals in SA. Byleveld‚ 67‚ a chain smoker who operated on Grand-Pa Headache Powder mixed with Coke‚ brought notorious serial killers to book‚ including three of the worst that Johannesburg‚ and SA‚ has ever seen. He succumbed to lung cancer at the Life Wilgeheuwel Hospital in Roodepoort. Cedric Maake‚ the Wemmer Pan Killer also known as the Hammer Killer‚ raped 14 women and murdered 27 between 1996 and 1997. His victims ranged in age from a 15 to 74 and included men and women. Convicted in 2000‚ he was given a 1‚340-year prison sentence for his reign of terror in southern Johannesburg. Mine-dump serial child killer, Sipho Dube Mhlangathi, was caught in 2004. He became Byleveld’s f...

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