“We’re looking for work,” the two strangers told farm manager Bill Nelson. The manager had plenty of work to be done at Waterval Farm, in the Transvaal, and the two men, Andries Van Niekerk and Edward Markus, were given a warm reception, food and accommodation.

Two nights later shots were heard as the farm caught fire. The two men were seen running away, and later, in the smouldering ruins, police found the remains of Bill Nelson and his assistant Tom Denton.

Niekerk, 34, and Markus, 24, both with long prison records for burglary and violence, were tried in February 1926 and hanged at Pretoria Central Prison on Wednesday, April 14th, 1926.