Steyn guilty of culpable homicide

2012-09-18 14:45

Jaco Steyn (Sapa)

Johannesburg - It was proven beyond reasonable doubt that the death of Lazanne Farmer was caused by culpable homicide, not murder, the High Court sitting in Alberton found on Tuesday.

Judge Sita Kolbe said the State had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Steyn was guilty of Farmer's abduction and culpable homicide.

"There was testimony that no medical assistance could have saved her," said Kolbe.

Farmer's sister started crying in court when the judgment was handed down.

Farmer, 14, from Pretoria, was kidnapped in September 2010 by a man in a bakkie. She died after jumping out of the bakkie in a bid to escape.
Earlier, the judge found Steyn guilty of murdering and kidnapping teenager Louise de Waal.

Kolbe said: "The State proved beyond reasonable doubt he kidnapped and murdered her."

Steyn was acquitted on a charge of raping De Waal.

She said Steyn was a "self-confessed liar" who admitted to lying to his wife and his boss.

The judge said it was improbable that a mechanic at his workplace had disabled the tracking system in his bakkie, which helped him because his vehicle could then not be tracked.

She also said it was unlikely that an unknown person placed De Waal's bag in the bin in Steyn's yard.

He was in the vicinity of where the murder took place. His two cellphones placed him there via cellphone towers tracking activity on his phone.

As a result, the only inference that could be made was, "that it was the accused who abducted Louise and subsequently killed her".

- SAPA