B1 Butcher

The B1 Butcher is an unidentified serial killer in Namibia. The B1 Butcher murdered at least five women between 2005 and 2007, with all murders related to the National Road B1. In 2007, a German-born Namibian was accused of rape, arrested and later linked to these unsolved murders. However, he was, after a long period of imprisonment, acquitted due to a lack of evidence. In 2008 a man who committed suicide was implicated as the series of murders ended in 2007, but the connection could not be conclusively proven. The B1 Butcher got its name from the Namibian media, due to victims' remains being found in close proximity to the Namibian National Road B1, which crosses the country from north to south. The "butcher" part of the name stems from the professional way in which the bodies were dismembered. The B1 Butcher was also referred to as the "Khomas Ripper", due to the region where the remains of the victims were found. Body parts were found in June and July 2007 in the Khomas Region along the B1 in the greater Windhoek area between Rehoboth and Okahandja. These body parts were wrapped in garbage bags and belonged to two different women. As far back as 2005 two similar unexplained murders of women occurred, those two murders have subsequently also been attributed to the B1 Butcher. The head and an arm of the so far last victim were found in August 2007, further north on the B1 between Windhoek, Okahandja. Further body parts of the same victim were discovered in September 2007 near Grootfontein in the Otjozondjupa Region. This woman has never been identified. Police took this sequence of events as a clue that the murderer might have moved from Windhoek further northwards. In October 2007, investigations were helped by three senior serial murder detectives from the Republic of South Africa. It is believed this series of murders will never be solved. All five of the B1 Butcher victims were young or middle-aged women. Two of the five women killed (both found in 2007) could not be identified.