Khasho August September 2010 - National Prosecuting Authority

12 NPA PerformanceGranny killer sentenced to lifeA 22 year-old man who raped and murdered a 72 year-oldwoman in Kimberley was sentenced to life imprisonment inthe Northern Cape High Court. Andries Mohale who isaccused of rape and murder of Hettie Uys was found guilty inthe Northern Cape High Court and sentenced to lifeimprisonment. He also received an additional 25 yearsentence.Acting Judge BM Pakati sentenced Mohale from Donkerhoekin Galeshewe to life imprisonment for murder, 10 years forrape and 15 years for robbery with aggravating circumstances.The sentences will run concurrently. Uys was brutallymurdered in the West End cemetery in January last yearduring a regular visit to her husband’s grave. She had astanding engagement of placing fresh flowers on herhusband’s grave every Sunday morning after church.State AdvocateAdele Van Heerdensaid Uys wasseverely assaultedand was struck onthe head with astone and someforce must havebeen used whichwas the intention ofher attacker to killAdvocate Adele Van Heerden her. MonnapuleWindvogel whowas accused number two, turned state witness at the beginningof the trial. The third accused, a 16 year-old minor wasacquitted. Acting Judge Pakati described the attack on Uys as“vicious and appalling”. She said the accused is a danger tosociety who does not have respect for anybody’s dignity andprivacy. “The court also takes into consideration that he didnot show any remorse”, she said.The Acting Judge said the accused was a poor witness whogave long-winded explanation to answer the questions of theprosecution. She also stated that the accused had no right tosteal the old woman’s possessions after he stole her denturesand took money from her wallet. “He severely assaulted theelderly woman and dragged her to her car where she wasraped”, she said.Phaladi Shuping“The evidence as a whole is beyond reasonable doubt. Aconsiderable amount of force must have been used to hit thedeceased. The bruising on her face also shows that the accusedused a significant amount of force. She was 72 anddefenseless”, the Judge said.After the accused was given a life sentence, the deceased’seldest daughter, Annamarie Potgieter stood in front of him fora few seconds, staring into his evading eyes. “I just wanted tolook into the eyes of the man who murdered my mother. Ispoke to him in silence. He knew what I was saying”, she saidto Khasho.Commentary by Advocate AdeleVan HeerdenWe experienced a lot of challenges during the trial. Firstly,there was no eyewitness to testify. There was also no DNAthat could be found on the dentures since an abrasiveliquid was used to clean them. We could also not find thedentist that could link the specific dentures to thedeceased. The investigating officer found the shoe printsnext to the body of the deceased but due to the composureof the surface no extractible prints for comparisonpurposes could be made.The accused alleged that he was at the cemetery where hefound the deceased who had already been attacked. Hewas under the impression that she was dead, and lookedthrough her vehicle for something to steal. He claimed thathe may have stepped on the deceased when he exited thevehicle. This was given in an effort to explain the palmprint and the sole print on the face of the deceased.The highlight of the case was seeing the pieces of evidencecoming together. The investigating officer managed totrace the dentures of the deceased to the accused. It wasalso gratifying to see the family members of the deceasedwelcoming the sentence.I have learned from this case that it invaluable to workclosely with the investigating officer from the start. Theinvestigating officer was inexperienced since this was hisfirst big case but by working closely together, we managedto get conviction on the murder with dolus directus.Professionalism, Integrity, Service Excellence, Accountability and Credibility