Man denies guilt for ex-wife's murder
2011-11-18 21:40
Pretoria - A 62-year-old geologist accused of hiring his gardener to murder his ex-wife denied guilt in the North Gauteng High Court on Friday.
The State alleges that Cobus Prinsloo hired his gardener, 35-year-old Lucas Moloi, in October 2009 to murder his ex-wife Cordelia.
Prinsloo discovered her body buried in a flower bed in the garden of his smallholding near Kameeldrift in Pretoria on October 14 2009.
Moloi was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment on Thursday, after admitting that he had beat Mrs Prinsloo to death with the spade she had asked him to fetch to plant flowers.
His trial was separated from that of Prinsloo’s after he admitted guilt.
Moloi testified in mitigation that Prinsloo first offered him a job and free housing and thereafter promised to give him R50 000 and a house to murder his ex-wife.
He had never seen a cent of the promised money and his only award was R3 000, which he obtained when he sold a Kruger Rand belonging to Mrs Prinsloo.
The jewellery, foreign money, laptop and cellphone he stole from his victim were recovered by police when he was arrested.
Right to silence
Moloi said Prinsloo promised him no one would find out about the murder because he (Prinsloo) would make sure that no one ever found the body.
Mrs Prinsloo, an air hostess, lived in a bungalow on her ex-husband's smallholding at the time of her death.
Prinsloo chose to use his right to silence and did not reveal the basis of his defence, but made a number of formal admissions.
He said their divorce settlement included an agreement that the smallholding would remain his exclusive property, but that his ex-wife would be entitled to four hectares of the plot, which had to be sub-divided.
Their agreement also provided for him to pay her the equivalent of the market value of the four hectares if the sub-division had not gone through within three years.
The sub-division had not taken place by the time of her death.
Judge Ntendeya Mavundla postponed the trial to Monday next week, when Moloi is expected to take the stand.
- SAPA
