Mom jailed for murder cover-up

2003-06-05 13:44

Johannesburg - The High Court has jailed Mariette Kruger, the 54-year-old mother who helped her son cover up the alleged killing of his wife, for two years.

Kruger had earlier pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder.

Judge David Makhoba will rule on Friday on Kruger's application for leave to appeal against the sentence, while her legal team also asked that she be released on bail pending the outcome of any appeal that she lodges.

Prosecutor Riaan Kock is to oppose the application for leave to appeal and also asked that Kruger be jailed immediately.

Kruger pleaded guilty on Monday to being an accessory to the murder of Maria Bouwer, who was strangled at her Clinton Park home in 1999.

The defence had asked that Kruger be sentenced to house arrest, saying she needed medical care after a workplace injury some years ago.

The State urged the court to impose imprisonment and contended that Kruger showed no remorse.

In his judgment, Makhoba told Kruger she would have adequate access to medical care while in prison.

Not a suitable wife

The fact that she helped her son alter the crime scene to deceive police into believing her daughter-in-law had been killed by intruders was found to be an aggravating factor.

Kruger's son, Colin Bouwer, is on trial in another high court, charged with the 1999 murder.

Although the motive remains unclear, it was alleged that Kruger felt the victim was not a suitable wife for her son.

Colin Bouwer met his wife at school. Their child was seven months old at the time of the murder and is now almost five.

Ironically, Colin Bouwer's father, also named Colin, was convicted in New Zealand and given life imprisonment almost two years ago for the murder of his wife.

The older Bouwer's wife, Annette, died in 2000 after many weeks of ill health.

It was subsequently found her death was caused by hypoglycaemic drugs he fed her and that he got with false prescriptions.

- SAPA