Killer's mom begs forgiveness

2008-06-06 22:30

Pretoria - The mother of a murderous young Benoni drug addict on Friday begged the family of her son's elderly victim for forgiveness, telling the Pretoria High Court that her son should be punished for what he did.

A tearful Elizabeth Esterhuizen testified how she had, through the years and in vain, tried to help her son, Frederick (Freddy) Koen, 23, who has been addicted to alcohol and drugs since his schooldays.

She said Koen had told her he was going to buy a car from an old lady the day before he murdered 92-year-old Elizabeth Catharina Stroh at her house in Benoni in February last year. He later arrived home with the car.

"As a parent I cannot gloss over what he did. I feel he must be punished for the deed he committed. On behalf of Freddy and my family I ask for forgiveness for what he put her family through," Esterhuizen told the court.

Acting Judge Chris Eksteen sentenced Koen to 40 years in prison on charges of murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances, after finding there were mitigating circumstances to justify a lesser sentence than life imprisonment.

Psychologist Professor Wicus Coetzee, testified that Koen came from a troubled background. He had been treated unsuccessfully for his violent behaviour and addiction problems at three institutions and had an anti-social personality disorder.

Coetzee said Koen had been affected by the large amount of drugs he had used before he murdered Stroh, which resulted in diminished accountability for his actions.

Judge Eksteen said it was clear that Koen's mother was aware of his problems and had tried to get him help, but he had ignored her attempts. Even in a psychiatric hospital he had bitten the doctor who tried to help him "because he felt like it".

'Abhorrent' deed

Not one of the institutions that tried to help him in the past had had any success.

The court could also not ignore the fact that Koen had gone to Stroh's home with the intention to rob her of her car, and that he had used a lot of drugs as encouragement to carry out his plan.

"One shudders to think that he had even used his victim's bathroom several times to sniff cocaine before he strangled her. The medical evidence reflected that it must have been a violent attack, as the frail, elderly victim's jaw had been broken in two places," the judge said.

He said the court had taken into account that Koen was a first offender, that he had been honest with the court and had clearly been affected by drugs when he committed his "abhorrent" deed.

- SAPA