#1 subsequently served as shock troops for the government-led land invasions that displaced thousands of white farmers.
Mr Martin Olds, aged 43, was killed on his farm, Compensation Farm, on the morning of Tuesday, 18 April 2000. A large group of war veterans surrounded OldsÂ’ farmhouse. They had come to the farm in a convoy of about twelve motor vehicles and some allegedly were armed with AK47 automatic rifles. Olds was alone in the farmhouse when they arrived. at the time. Apparently when Olds came out to speak to the invaders, he was shot and wounded. He then went inside the house and grabbed a shotgun. A three hour gun battle ensued between the war veterans, some of whom were armed with automatic weapons, and Olds. Olds was wounded in the shoulder, chest and legs. According to one report the stand-off ended when squatters threw molotov cocktails into the house. Olds' home started to burn and when the heat became too intense inside he stumbled out into the hands of the veterans. They beat him severely with iron bars and then shot him twice in the face at close range. When the police found OldsÂ’ body it was riddled with bullets. He had bullet wounds in the face and both legs. His head had been severely battered with blunt objects. According to homicide officers of the CID who collected his body three hours after his death, the veterans had riddled Olds with bullets and then finished him off with iron bars and other weapons such as axes.. "They killed my son," said Gloria Olds, Martin's mother. "They beat him to a pulp."
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