Tetinene “Joe” Jordan, a former anti-apartheid activist who was operating in East London at the time of Van Schoor’s killings, remembers this well.
“He was hunting, literally hunting people,” he says.
Van Schoor strongly denies he is a “serial killer” and believes everything he did was “within the law”. If people feel aggrieved over his killings, he says they should blame the South African police.
He says the police never criticised or warned him, but actively supported and encouraged him.
“Every officer in East London knew what was going on… all the police officers knew,” he said. “Not once did anybody say ‘Hey Louis, you’re on the borderline or you should cool it or whatever’… they all knew what was happening.”
In the police records held in public archives, Ms Jacobson found instances of killings where officers had been present at the time of the shootings. At no point did they appear to question Van Schoor as a suspect.
In many instances, the police failed to take photos of the deceased at the scenes of shooting and failed to collect key forensic evidence, such as bullet casings. Van Schoor was often the only witness to his shootings, so this evidence could have been crucial for determining what had actually happened in each case.
“These were cover-ups… He had the backing from police officers from junior rank and senior rank,” said Mr Goodenough.
“They wouldn’t investigate. They’d sit down with him and have a cigarette while chatting, with bodies lying nearby.”
In all cases Van Schoor pulled the trigger – but between the police and the businesses that hired him, an entire community played a role in the killings which took place in East London.
“Van Schoor was a serial killer because there was a society that allowed him to be one,” says Ms Jacobson.
For the relatives of Van Schoor’s victims, his freedom, and the failure of the state to thoroughly investigate his killings, is a constant source of pain. Some never recovered the bodies of their loved ones.
“It seems like we are stuck in this phase of being heartbroken, being angry,” says Marlene Mvumbi, whose brother, Edward, was murdered by Van Schoor in 1987. His remains were dumped in an unmarked grave by the authorities without the family’s consent.
“Lots of people are still missing and not even in the graveyard… there is no closure.”
Van Schoor’s case pre-dated South Africa’s 1995 Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which gave compensation to many victims of apartheid-era crimes.
Sharlene Crage, a former activist who played a key role in pressuring the South African authorities to prosecute Van Schoor, is outraged that he was ever allowed to walk free.
“It’s a shocking miscarriage of justice,” she said. “There is no reason his case shouldn’t be reopened.”