Murder, Witchcraft and the Killing of Wildlife: Memoirs of a Police Officer in the Heart of Africa

by Stephen Rabey Matthews, Stephen R Matthews

Overview

Features stories of encounters with African Presidents, including the occasion when the author prevented a potential assassination attempt on President Kaunda's life. The author also describes, in dramatic detail, the relentless dangers of the political situation in Africa, with murders, petrol bombs, kidnappings and major fraud cases all occurring during his time there.

Stephen R. Matthew’s first police posting near the Northern Rhodesian border with the Congo coincided dramatically with a time of horrific ethnic cleansing in the Belgian Congo area. At just twenty-one years old, Stephen was knifed, ambushed, stoned, shot and wounded by bow and arrow. His hand was broken several times.

Action-packed, unadulterated stories of those frantic and dangerous years are meticulously detailed here. This young police inspector found himself confronted by actions and terrifying events well beyond his understanding, whilst serving in the elite police force. He found that the police were fighting on two fronts; trying to protect the vulnerable citizens of the country whilst at the same time endeavouring to stop the slaughter of wildlife.

A stand-out, unique and comprehensive book, Murder, Witchcraft and the Killing of Wildlife depicts dramatic accounts of witchcraft-murders and cannibalism. Highly dangerous solo investigations are detailed, incorporating incidents of black magic, kidnapping, arson, gun-running and people trafficking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526764119
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	06/13/2024
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Stephen was born in Guernsey, Channel Islands shortly before the outbreak of W.W.II and later illegally deported to concentration camps in Germany with his family. He describes these horrendous events in his book 'The Day The Nazis Came'. Following liberation by Free French Forces in 1945 the family returned to Guernsey where he was educated at Elizabeth College. He undertook his business training with Maple & Co Ltd of Tottenham Court Road and later joined the Northern Rhodesia Police (A British Protectorate) in 1959, with the express purpose of helping to Africanise the force prior to independence. He underwent a series of intensive courses in Criminal and Civil Law, African Languages and Para-military training.

In five years of continuous service, Stephen was ambushed, stoned, knifed, attacked with a metal bar and seriously injured, wounded by bow and arrow and shotgun. He had his hand broken several times and his life was saved on several occasions by his dedicated team of African detectives and his loyal dog Alex, the Doberman (regarded as a witchdoctor by local tribesmen).

Stephen was even threatened twice with Court Martial, however, he gained a plethora of awards and commendations and was finally granted early promotion as the youngest officer ever so promoted in any British Colonial Police Force. He met with Presidents, such as President Tsombe of Katanga, and he personally foiled a potential assassination attempt on the life of President-Elect, Kenneth Kaunda. He personally saved Wild Geese Mercenaries from being ambushed in the Congo, tracked down an International Terrorist, investigated several witchcraft murders, and dealt with cannibalism, and he even took part in the search for the downed aircraft of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, still the subject of controversy to this day.

Stephen was born in Guernsey shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War and later illegally deported to concentration camps in Germany with his family. After these horrendous events, Stephen and his family returned to Guernsey where he was educated at Elizabeth College.

Stephen went on to join the Northern Rhodesia Police in 1959, with the express purpose of helping to Africanise the force prior to independence. His investigations took him over a great deal of the country, investigating horrendous and dangerous crimes, and securing more than 125 convictions for wildlife poaching.

The recipient of a plethora of awards and commendations, Stephen married Dr Xue Fen Matthews and now spends much of his time living in both France and China.

Editorial Reviews

Each in its own way, these books track important changes in the legal systems that deal with heinous crimes against men, women and children. So, what’s left — animals? Well, yes. Stephen R. Matthews covers that ground in MURDER, WITCHCRAFT AND THE KILLING OF WILDLIFE: Police Investigations at the Heart of Africa (Pen & Sword, 231 pp., $34.95). It’s tough to compete with witch doctors, gun runners, government assassins, mercenaries and assorted other strong personalities of that ilk, but the author’s magnificent Doberman, modestly named Alex, comes off best in this rattling good memoir by a former British police officer writing of his colorful career while on assignment in Congo. As a visitor to the police station patiently explains his complaint to the desk sergeant: “You know, this is all about witchcraft and of course, the Bwana’s big brown dog Alex knows who did it.” I mean, what’s not to love about a story featuring a canine revered for his courage, sagacity and insight into human malfeasance? In between solving murders and settling village grievances, Matthews is frequently called upon to deal with a variety of local scams, like the self-serving hustle of a mortician who has convinced a woman that her dear departed husband would be restored to life if she would have sex with him — the mortician, not the dead husband. But the soul of the book resides in the author’s efforts to stem the evil practices of slaughtering endangered wildlife and dealing with foreign agents in the dirty business of smuggling animal parts. Despite his best attempts, Matthews could never shake off the way the locals saw him, as a white witch doctor with the ability to speak with the spirits of the dead and place spells against the living. There’s a story — several, in fact — about what led to this perception, which proves that, at the very least, the author learned a thing or two about telling a tale.

New York Times

An deftly written, impressively informative, and inherently riveting read from first page to last, "Murder, Witchcraft and the Killing of Wildlife: Police Investigations at the Heart of Africa" is an extraordinary and detailed memoir that will prove to be an immediate and enduringly popular addition to both community and college/university library Environmentalist & Naturalist Biography; Biology of Wildlife; and African Law Enforcement Biography collections and supplemental curriculum studies.”

Midwest Book Review

It's tough to compete with witch doctors, gun runners, government assassins, mercenaries and assorted other strong personalities of that ilk, but the author's magnificent Doberman, modestly named Alex, comes off best in this rattling good memoir by a former British police officer writing of his colorful career while on assignment in Congo.

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio