The three men who kidnapped, raped and murdered student Hannah Cornelius and severely injured her friend, Cheslin Marsh, in Stellenbosch last year were handed life sentences by the Western Cape High Court on Monday.
Vernon Witbooi, Geraldo Parsons and Eben van Niekerk were convicted last week of robbery, kidnapping, rape and murder. A fourth man, Nashville Julius, was found guilty of robbery and kidnapping and was sentenced to 22 years direct imprisonment. He fled the scene after the gang of men had accosted and robbed Cornelius and Marsh.
The public gallery cheered and shouted in delight as Judge Rosheni Allie handed down the sentences.
Marsh and Cornelius were attacked by the four men at about 3 am on May 27, 2017, while they were chatting in her car after a night out with friends.
They were threatened with a knife and a screwdriver before they were robbed and taken to an open veld where Marsh was bludgeoned with bricks and left for dead.
Marsh survived the attack but sustained severe injuries to the head which has left him deaf in one ear.
The suspects then drove off with Cornelius and took her to a secluded spot where they took turns raping her. They then drove her to a wine farm where they stabbed her to death.
- African News Agency (ANA),
