Moses Sithole Infamous Murders

Sithole was formally charged with 38 murders. While in remand, Sithole agreed to give a recorded interview to an inmate under the premise that it would be sold and his part of the benefits would go to his daughter. This time, Sithole admitted to 29 murders and said that he "did not know where the other nine came from". According to Sithole, he got his main thrill from watching his victims' eyes bulge out when they died. At his trial, however, Sithole declared himself innocent of all charges, and accused the police of forcing him to confess. On December 4, 1997, Sithole was found guilty of 38 counts of murder, 40 counts of rape, and six counts of robbery, and sentenced to 2,410 years in prison with no possibility of parole for 930 years. Sithole is currently serving his sentence in the C-Max section of Pretoria Central Prison, the highest security block in all of South Africa.

Sithole targeted unemployed black women in their 20s who looked after their appearance. He offered them a desk job, and after a train trip, he led them on foot to one of his killing sites in the Gauteng area, claiming that it was a shortcut to his office. Once there, he told them that he had been hurt by a woman and that he was going to rape and kill them unless they defeated him. He would then bind their hands, undress them, rape them more than once, and strangle them in the location. He strangled the first victim with his own hands, and the rest with a ligature taken from the victims themselves (mostly their own panties, but sometimes also belts, shoelaces, and purse handles). The last victims were strangled with a garrote made with their clothing and a stick. These last victims were also raped and killed directly over an older body, and their hands were bound to their necks, to make them unable to struggle without strangling themselves. Sithole would masturbate while his victims died. Afterwards, he covered their faces with their own clothing and weighed the clothes down with stones.

"[Sithole is] very charming, very well-spoken... whatever I asked him, he answered. He was pleasant, he was polite... Scary."

-Dr. Lorna Martin, the district surgeon

Pistorius profiled the ABC Killer as a black male in his late 20s or early 30s, who is self-employed, with access to money, drives an expensive car, and wears flashy clothes and jewelry. He is also socially competent, charming, and a ladies' man; probably married, separated or divorced; visits places where alcohol is sold and enjoys socializing; has antecedents for fraud or theft; might tell someone that he is the killer, but using the third person, and taunt the police; follows reports of the murders and the investigation in the press; detests women, despite being very charming to them; collects mementos that he disposes of later, and masturbates after the crimes; has a high sex drive and peruses pornography; was exposed to sexual violence in his past, perhaps as a juvenile; and is very intelligent and streetwise.

Ressler said that the ABC Killer "has a high sex drive and reads pornography. His fantasies, to which he masturbates, are aggressive, and he believes that women are merely objects to be abused. He enjoys charming and controlling women. When he approaches a victim, it is done in a very calculating way, and he is very conscious that he is eventually going to kill the victim, and savours the thought while he softens her up."