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The Rheenendal man accused of brutally raping and murdering nine-year-old Rosaline Philander last year was found guilty on all charges against him in the Circuit High Court in Knysna on Thursday.
Ewald Booysen, 32, was found guilty of rape, murder and kidnapping after the little girl’s body was found in a wooded area in Rheenendal on August 31 last year. She was stabbed in the neck and brutally raped.
Booysen pleaded not guilty on all charges, but Judge James Yekiso found that the state managed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Booysen committed the crimes.
In his plea explanation Booysen claimed Rosaline “out of her own free will” followed him to a local shop called Totties after promising her chips.
He said after she complained about his drinking and told him she wanted to go home, he strangled her until her arms “went limp”. He further claimed she fell onto her back, where after he left her, not knowing if she was still alive.
Yekiso said evidence by pathologist Mariette Hurst however proved that his version could not be true as she found no evidence of strangulation.
Blood found on Booysen’s clothing also matched that of the victim. Yekiso also said there was overwhelming evidence that Booysen was the last person seen with Rosaline, before she was killed.
“The fact that her blood was found on the clothing of the accused shows that he was in close contact with the deceased while she was bleeding and therefore the only assumption that can be made is that he inflicted the wounds,” Yekiso said.
Prosecutor Morne Julies then revealed that Booysen was not a first offender and that he was convicted of rape on February 20, 2001. He was handed a 15 year sentence of which two years was suspended for five years.
