Despatch attack victim bleeds to death

A TERRIFIED wife and her five-year- old son watched in horror as a Despatch man bled to death while trying to protect them from a knife- wielding intruder at the weekend.

In what police suspect was a botched burglary, Rocco Swanepoel, 38, was stabbed multiple times in the neck and upper body by a man who climbed through the bathroom window and confronted him inside his Graham Bell Street home shortly after 1am on Saturday.

Soon after the savage attack, a 30-year-old man was arrested while trying to scale a 3m boundary fence.

The suspect has been linked to a group of alleged burglars who were in the neighbourhood at the time.

Police said yesterday the alleged killer had been arrested for burglary in Despatch just three months ago. Details of his release from custody could not be obtained at the weekend.