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Nurse killer gets 20 years
28/01/2008 21:04 - (SA)
Pretoria - A 22-year-old Westonaria man who bludgeoned to death a young nurse and almost killed her friend three years ago, was sentenced on Monday in the Pretoria High Court to 20 years behind bars for his "cruel and callous" deeds.
Acting Judge Joshua Dolamo sentenced Willem Strauss to 40 years in prison, of which he has to serve 20 years, on charges of murder, attempted murder and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The court earlier rejected Strauss' claim that he had not been aware of what he was doing when he attacked 23-year-old nurse Laetitia Brown and her friend Deon Engelbrecht in March 2003 because of his use of drugs and alcohol. Strauss, a former truck driver, admitted to dealing in drugs.
The Judge took substance abuse, Strauss' youth and his difficult upbringing into account in mitigation of sentence.
Strauss' co-accused, Johan Johnston, was effectively sentenced to six years in prison for his role in robbing Brown of her car.
His bail was, however, extended pending an appeal against his conviction.
The court accepted that Johnston suffered from post traumatic stress as a result of seeing Strauss attacking Brown and Engelbrecht, which had affected his judgment.
The couple was viciously attacked with a stick after offering Strauss and Johnston a lift following a visit to a nightclub.
They had stopped to sniff cocaine, but an argument ensued between Strauss and Engelbrecht about who was to supply the drugs, causing Strauss to attack the two young people.
Engelbrecht suffered permanent brain damage as a result of the attack. He later told the court he had no recollection of the incident.
'Confidence in the law'
Judge Dolamo rejected argument by Defence Counsel that the men deserved no more than correctional supervision. He said the gravity of the offences called for the removal of the accused from society and direct imprisonment would serve "to restore society's confidence in the law".
Engelbrecht refused to comment about the sentence and had to fend off an angry verbal attack by Brown's sister, Gina, outside the courtroom. The angry young woman had to be warned by the police and calmed down by her father before she regained her composure.
Brown's father, George, said he "felt nothing" about the sentence, but his wife, Ina, blamed Engelbrecht for her daughter's death and the imprisonment of the two men.
She said the whole thing would never have happened if Engelbrecht had not offered the two accused a cocaine party.
"He knew my child and said this was the woman he wanted to marry. Now he can't even look us in the eye," she said bitterly.
- SAPA
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