The young South African Lady who became very jealous of her lovers wife
Go check out the Crime Reel! - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8uw4lQjJnNZBxJu8_ATV5w
Please remember to subscribe and hit the bell icon as well as leave a like and a comment for more videos every week!
Brief Case is a True Crime Channel focusing on old or lost cases that have been forgotten to history. If you have any recommendations for future cases that you would like to bring to light, feel free to reach out to me to: briefcaseuk@gmail.com
Music by CO.AG Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwZB4l43iTw&t=105s
Music by Myuu -https://www.youtube.com/user/myuuji
Music by Kevin Macleod - https://incompetech.com
#TheScissorMurderess #MarleneLehnberg #BriefCase
Go check out the Crime Reel! - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8uw4lQjJnNZBxJu8_ATV5w
Please remember to subscribe and hit the bell icon as well as leave a like and a comment for more videos every week!
Brief Case is a True Crime Channel focusing on old or lost cases that have been forgotten to history. If you have any recommendations for future cases that you would like to bring to light, feel free to reach out to me to: briefcaseuk@gmail.com
Music by CO.AG Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwZB4l43iTw&t=105s
Music by Myuu -https://www.youtube.com/user/myuuji
Music by Kevin Macleod - https://incompetech.com
#TheScissorMurderess #MarleneLehnberg #BriefCase
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:08Today's case is being narrated by the amazing channel, The Crime Reel.
00:14So sit back as The Crime Reel takes us to 1970s South Africa.
00:23Marlene Lemberg was born on October the 13th 1955 in Cape Town.
00:30During her childhood her parents were very strict and she rarely went out.
00:36Her father was said to be a very moralistic person who showed very little affection towards
00:42his children.
00:43Instead he made sure that they concentrated on their studies and school work.
00:48Marlene, however, proved to be a very good student.
00:52She was a bright and intelligent girl who often came top of her class.
00:57Despite her academic achievements at the end of 1971, she left school and in February 1972
01:04started working.
01:06She obtained a position as the receptionist at the Orthopaedic Workshop of the Red Cross
01:12Children's Hospital in Cape Town.
01:15This new way of life was a great change for her.
01:18Surrounded by adults and now a young woman, she was no longer controlled by her father's
01:24puritanical rules.
01:26Soon after starting at the hospital, she was introduced to the Chief Orthopaedic Technician,
01:32an energetic man named Christian Funderlinde.
01:36He was polite and friendly and nearly 30 years her senior.
01:40After work, colleagues would often go out for a drink and Christiane paid a lot of attention
01:46to the new, young, attractive receptionist.
01:50Other hospital employees soon noticed that a friendship had developed between them.
01:55Perhaps it was because Marlene saw Christiane as a more understanding and caring father figure
02:02than her own father had been.
02:04Marlene paid particular attention to Christiane and it was obvious to their colleagues that
02:09they had a unique relationship.
02:12He would try to see her at every opportunity, whether that be passing her desk or taking
02:18her to lunch.
02:19It seemed that he had become very attracted to the young, flirtatious receptionist.
02:25When Marlene was 18 years old, she left her parents home and moved into a boarding house.
02:31She now had the independence that she had so long desired and as her relationship with
02:37Christiane developed, he started to take her home after work and spend as much time in
02:42her company as he could.
02:44Within a year of first meeting, the relationship between Marlene and Christiane became more
02:50intimate and Marlene's infatuation with him turned into an obsession.
02:55Christiane, however, was married and had children.
02:58His wife was apparently a very nice lady called Susanna and he had no intention of leaving her
03:04despite his impassioned relationship with Marlene.
03:08He knew that with such an age difference, the relationship with Marlene would probably never
03:13last and he told her that for the sake of his children, he would not leave his wife.
03:19Marlene, however, was still young and impressionable and continued to hold onto the hope that she
03:24and Christiane would end up together.
03:27In early 1974, Susanna received an anonymous telephone call informing her of her husband's
03:34infidelity.
03:35She confronted Christiane, but he dismissed it as a crank call.
03:39He realised, however, that he would have to cool his relationship with Marlene.
03:45By July of the same year, Marlene had become fed up with the fact that she was spending less
03:51time with Christiane.
03:52She told him that she was considering leaving Cape Town and moving to Johannesburg.
03:57Christiane was upset by her decision and spent the next few weeks trying to convince her to stay,
04:03saying that everything would turn out alright.
04:06But things did not really change, so in September 1974, Marlene made a somewhat strange decision.
04:13She decided to telephone Christiane's wife, Susanna, and tell her about her husband's
04:19infidelities.
04:20However, Susanna didn't respond, she just hung up the telephone.
04:25A few weeks later, she telephoned her again, this time with more success as Susanna agreed
04:30to meet her.
04:31So in early October, Christiane's wife and mistress met in the Cape Town suburb of Belleville.
04:38Marlene was hoping that she could convince Susanna that her marriage was over and she should
04:43let Christiane be with her, the woman he loved.
04:46But Susanna had no intention of leaving her husband and told her that a divorce was totally
04:52out of the question.
04:53So as long as Marlene didn't mind sharing Christiane, neither did she.
05:00Not long after Marlene's meeting with Susanna, she was introduced to a man named Martinus Charles
05:07Chuhu.
05:08He was 33 years old and unemployed.
05:11He had lost a leg in a car accident and had come to the orthopaedic workshop in order to
05:17get an artificial limb adjusted as it was causing him discomfort.
05:22Unfortunately, his disability had also affected his mental health and Martinus had become a
05:28quiet and withdrawn character.
05:31Marlene spoke with him and she soon discovered that he often visited a shop called Solly's
05:37Trading Store, which was only a short distance from his house in the poor Cape Town neighbourhood
05:43of Retreat.
05:45Marlene wrote to him using the store as a delivery address, asking him to contact her if he wanted
05:51to earn good money.
05:52A few days later, she saw a scruffy looking man lurking outside the orthopaedic workshop,
05:59and when she looked again, she realised that the man was Martinus Chuhu.
06:04Sensing that her plan may work, she took one rand from her purse and gave it to him.
06:09She then whispered that he should meet her at the Rondebosch Town Hall at 7 in the evening.
06:167 o'clock arrived and Marlene arrived at the town hall and saw that Martinus was waiting
06:21for her by the entrance.
06:22On the way, she had stopped to buy a bottle of gin, which she gave to him.
06:27He was intrigued.
06:28What was it this young lady wanted with him?
06:31An unemployed, one-legged man.
06:33Marlene did not want to be hanging around outside the town hall for any longer than she needed,
06:38so she wasted no time in telling him the job she had in mind for him.
06:43I'd like you to murder someone for me, she said.
06:46A woman.
06:48Martinus was taken aback.
06:50He thought that Marlene had probably wanted him to do something illegal, but not this.
06:55But Miss Marlene, he replied, I can't do a thing like that.
06:59It will send me to the gallows.
07:01Marlene Lemberg, however, was a persuasive young woman.
07:04She calmly asked him if he had ever been in court before, and he said that he was once
07:09charged with being in possession of a dangerous weapon.
07:12Marlene then told him that he was just the sort of person she was looking for, someone
07:17who can handle a dangerous weapon.
07:19Despite his initial resistance, Martinus eventually agreed to Marlene's somewhat bizarre request,
07:25and a few days later went to the address given to him in the Cape Town suburb of Boston,
07:31which was where Mrs. Fundalinda lived.
07:34When he arrived at her home in Gladstone Street, he hesitantly knocked on the door,
07:39and when his intended victim answered, instead of doing as Marlene had asked,
07:44Martinus nervously asked for some change.
07:47The lady just looked at him and said she had not got any, and shut the door.
07:51A week later, Martinus met Marlene again. He told her that he was too afraid of the
07:57consequences to go through with her plan, but Marlene was not about to end her dream
08:02of being with Christiane, and told him that she would ensure that the hospital sped up the
08:07production of his new prosthetic leg if he killed Mrs. Fundalinda. Marlene then handed him a radio.
08:15Martinus was still very apprehensive, but nevertheless he returned to Gladstone Street.
08:20Only this time his nerves again got the better of him, and he just walked past the house making
08:26no attempt to enter. Now getting quite frustrated, Marlene wrote another note to Martinus urging him
08:32to go through with the murder, and when she saw him shortly afterwards, she told him she would give
08:38him a car once the crime had been committed. In October 1974, Marlene resigned from her position at
08:45the hospital. She had worked there for over two and a half years, and told her colleagues that she was
08:51going to leave Cape Town. A few days later, driving her white Ford Anglia, Marlene collected Martinus
08:59from his very humble home in retreat. They talked about what he had to do, and Marlene drove to the
09:05house in Gladstone Street. Armed with a hammer, Martinus got out of the car. He shut the car door,
09:12and before he had time to change his mind, Marlene sped off. Susanna, however, had been at her front
09:18window, and on seeing a man outside her house who had previously knocked at her door and asked for
09:24money, she called the police. They soon arrived and took him to the station, where he was beaten and
09:30warned never to return to the area. Marlene was getting a bit despondent with her chosen accomplice,
09:36so decided to look elsewhere. She approached a 24 year old engineering student named Robert Newman,
09:43who lived in the same boarding house as her, and asked if she could borrow his llama pistol.
09:48When he said that she absolutely could not, she strangely asked him if he would kill someone for
09:55her. Again he said no, but on the 28th of October, the pistol was stolen from his room. He reported
10:02the
10:02theft to the police, and informed them of his conversation with Marlene. One week later,
10:08on Monday the 4th of November 1974, Marlene drove to the neighbourhood where Martinus lived. She parked
10:15outside his house, and when he came out to speak with her, she told him that she was on her
10:19way to
10:20Johannesburg. She then asked him to accompany her to Susanna's house in Gladstone Street, so she could
10:26say goodbye to Christiane. Despite being told by police not to return there, Martinus reluctantly
10:33got in the passenger seat, and Marlene drove away. Before they arrived at the house, Marlene looked at
10:39him. She handed him the llama pistol, and said, you know what you have to do. During the morning,
10:45Christiane Fundalinde tried to contact his wife on several occasions. He thought it strange that she had
10:52not answered the phone, as she had not told him that she was going out. He decided to phone his
10:57daughter,
10:58Zelda, who worked at Tigerburg Hospital, and asked her if she would go home at lunchtime to see if
11:04Susanna was okay. When Zelda arrived home, the house was locked. She was now starting to worry,
11:11as she knew that a strange man had recently been seen near the house. She peered through a window,
11:17and there on the lounge floor, she saw her mother lying motionless. Zelda then rushed to a neighbor's
11:23house and phoned the police. The police arrived, they inspected the scene, and soon after confirmed
11:29that Susanna Fundalinde had been murdered. They also identified their main suspect, a one-legged black
11:37male who had been seen in and around the neighborhood on at least two previous occasions. Despite picking
11:43him up, taking him to the station and warning him never to come back to the area, the police had
11:49no
11:49address for Martinus, and finding out where he lived was proving difficult. The police interviewed
11:54staff at the orthopaedic workshop, and eventually the investigation led them to Marlene Lemberg.
12:01It was now the 13th of November. Lieutenant Roland Furee of the Brixton Murder and Robbery Squad went to
12:09interview her. She was staying at her uncle's house in Bryanston, but when the police arrived,
12:15she agreed to accompany Lieutenant Furee to the police station for questioning. During the journey,
12:21she told the officers that she was the lover of the victim's husband, and ever since her mother had
12:26told her of the tragic event, she had been expecting the police to contact her. When asked if she had
12:33an
12:33association with a one-legged black male, she said that she did not, but Lieutenant Furee noticed that
12:40during his questioning, she seemed unnaturally nervous. The Lieutenant then asked her about her
12:46conversation with Mr. Robert Newman. Did you request him to get rid of her for you? asked the Lieutenant.
12:52Marlene admitted that she had, but she insisted that it was just a remark made in jest. After a while,
12:58another police officer took over the questioning and suddenly Marlene just said, I took him there.
13:04I waited for him. He came back and I took him home. With that, Marlene Lemberg was arrested and formally
13:12charged with the murder of Mrs. Susanna Funderlinde. Later that day, the police in Cape Town arrested
13:18Martinus Charles Chuhu. They searched his house and found two pistols that they believed were used in the
13:25crime. They then also charged him with the murder of Mrs. Funderlinde.
13:32The trial of Marlene Lemberg and Martinus Charles Chuhu began at the Cape Town Supreme Court
13:38on the 5th of March 1975. The case had intrigued the South African public and had mass media attention.
13:47Marlene told the court that on Monday the 4th of November 1974, she drove Martinus to the victim's
13:53house in Gladstone Street. She then got out of the car and rang the doorbell, but then returned to the
13:59car and waited while Martinus went into the house and committed the murder. This version of events
14:05differed considerably from the story told by Martinus Charles Chuhu. He said that Marlene did indeed get
14:12out of the car and ring the bell, but she did not return to the car. Instead, she entered the
14:17house with him.
14:18He said that Mrs. Funderlinde was scared and tried to get to the phone to call the police.
14:24She was stopped by Marlene and then she fell and hit her head on the door. While she was on
14:29the floor,
14:30Marlene hit her with the pistol. Martinus then said that Marlene told him to strangle Mrs. Funderlinde
14:36before handing him a pair of scissors she had found in the drawer and instructed him to stab her.
14:42Before they left the house, he said that Marlene had covered him in green dye from a gas pistol,
14:48which she had found behind a picture in the living room. He added that she told him that if
14:53he went to the police, she would blame him and deny any involvement in the crime. They both then went
14:59back to the car and she dropped him back at his house. The version of the events described by Martinus
15:06seemed to be more credible. The pathologist reported that the body had seven stab wounds and a neighbour
15:12of the Funderlinders named Mrs. Murray told the court that on the morning of the 4th of November she was
15:18out walking past the house when she noticed a white Ford Anglia car. She walked back past the car 10
15:25or
15:2512 minutes later and on both occasions there was no one inside the vehicle. The trial lasted for seven
15:32days and over 30 witnesses gave evidence. The judge, Mr. Justice Deemont and his two assessors
15:39deliberated overnight before returning to give their verdicts. They found both defendants, Marlene Lemberg
15:46and Martinus Charles Chouhu guilty of murder and they were both sentenced to death. The defence
15:52appealed the sentences and in July 1975 they were commuted. Marlene's to 20 years imprisonment and
16:00Martinus to 15 years. In June 1986 Martinus Charles Chouhu was released and later became an evangelical
16:09preacher. He died in a car accident in 1992. Marlene was let out of prison on parole in December 1986.
16:18She lived out her life in relative obscurity and after suffering with various illnesses she died by her
16:25own hand in October 2015, five days before her 60th birthday. Christiane von der Linde moved to Krugersdorp
16:35so that he could visit his wife's grave on her family's farm in the Magaleseburg mountains. He died in 1983.
16:46Hello everyone and thank you so much for watching and thank you to the amazing crime reel for narrating
16:53this case. I've left the link below for the crime reels channel so if you would like to see some
16:59remarkable crime cases please just click on the link and next week I will be back and hope to see
17:07you all
17:07in the next brief case.
17:15Psst! Hey guys it's the crime reel I'm back. Just to quickly say this is one of my little signatures
17:21on my videos that I'll do a little secret message at the end. If you're still listening to this add
17:26the words bamboozle somewhere in the comments. Let's bamboozle the non-listeners. Also some great
17:32news. Briefcase is going to narrate a case pretty soon but that's only for you lot that are listening.
17:38Cheers guys. Thanks for your support. Goodbye.
Comments