Lowvelder
A gardener who strangled his employer to death four years ago has been sentenced to life in prison
Thirty-eight-year-old Nicholas Magagula was sentenced to life in prison plus 15 years in the Nelspruit Regional Court on Tuesday for murdering 41-year-old Liesl Nel in her home in Mbombela.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Monica Nyuswa says after strangling Nel to death, he fled the scene in her car with her handbag, phone and laptop.
Nel's body was found the following day and Magagula was later linked to the crime by a man who bought the stolen laptop.
The NPA says Magagula pleaded not guilty but the court was satisfied with the credibility of the State's witnesses.
During judgement earlier this month when he was found guilty of Nel's murder, Magagula tried to strangle a court orderly in an attempt to escape.
