FARMER GRANTED BAIL FOR ALLEGED MURDER

Carl Christian Gutter

By: Neo Ntsele

Brandfort farmer Carl Christian Gutter 78, appeared in the local Magistrate Court on Wednesday 21, for the alleged murder of Sonnyboy Segalo of Brandfort.

Gutter was arrested and processed the same day by members of Serious Organized Crime Investigation of the Hawks.

On 29 August, the police were summoned to what had been reported as an attack on Gutter’s Palnietfontein farm near Brandfort.

 They found four suspects who had been arrested by a group of farmers and farm workers.

Sonnyboy Segalo was among the four suspects accused of attempted robbery.

Although no one was initially arrested for the murder of Sonnyboy Segalo, an inquest into his murder was held by the Brandfort Magistrate Court from July 2024.

In March 2025, the court ordered that Gutter be arrested to appear in court for the murder of Sonnyboy Segalo.

Gutter was granted bail of R2 000, and the case was postponed to 29 May 2025 for transfer to the Brandfort Regional Court.

Free State head of the directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), Major General Mokgadi Bokaba has commended the detectives and prosecution for refusing to give up on this case.

“This is evidence that the arm of the is indeed long. Although we may appear to have reached a dead end in the beginning, new evidence can always surface, which resuscitates the investigation. This will not bring the deceased back, but it gives the family of Sonnyboy Segalo a shot at closure and justice”, said General Bokaba.