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Nothabo Zandile Tshuma and her daughters Natalie and Nala were found dead at their £1.3million homeCredit
A man who was wanted over the murder of a woman and her two children in Bedford has been arrested in South Africa, police have said.
Nothabo Zandile Tshuma, 42, and daughters Natalie, 15, and Nala, five, were found dead at their family home near Bedford on Monday. Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, who also goes by the name Mark, was arrested in Kensington, Johannesburg today (July 10), four days later , according to South African police.
The arrest followed “an intensive operation involving the SAPS Interpol National Central Bureau, Crime Intelligence and the Organised Crime Investigation Unit”, according to the South African Police Service.
The mother and two children were found dead at a £1.3 million detached house in Carnoustie Drive, Great Denham, near Bedford, after concerns were raised on Monday that they had not been seen for several days.
South African officials said the suspect, a British citizen of Zimbabwean heritage who goes by Mark, was traced and arrested “through swift operational coordination and intelligence-led policing”.
Cops in the UK said the 45-year-old IT consultant left the country two days before the bodies were discovered.
A South African police spokesperson has been reported as saying: “The South African Police Service can confirm that the suspect wanted in connection with the triple murder in the United Kingdom has been successfully located and arrested.”
“Further details will be communicated in due course.”
Prior to the arrest, the police had appealed directly to Tshuma, with the detective heading up the murder investigation Detective Inspector Lee Martin saying: “Mark, I am now speaking to you directly. Unthinkable harm has been caused to those around you.
“Three innocent people have lost their lives in the worst possible circumstances, leaving your relatives and friends devastated. We are throwing the full weight of the law behind this investigation.
Police had been called on Monday (6 July) over concerns for a mother and her two children who had not been seen for a number of days. Enquiries were carried out before police forced entry into a property where they made the grim discovery.
Bedfordshire Police Assistant Chief Constable John Murphy said at the time: “This is a deeply distressing incident in which a mother and her two children are believed to have been murdered. Our thoughts are first and foremost with all those affected. We recognise that this will cause concern in the local community and beyond.
Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma is due to appear in court on Monday.
