ALBERTON – Jurgens van der Merwe (29) was found guilty of murdering his 42-year-old girlfriend, Lynette Botes, between October 10 and 12, 2011, in the Johannesburg High Court.Botes was found dead in her Brackenhurst flat in 2011 and her boyfriend was later arrested in Secunda, claiming that he was not with Botes when she was murdered but in a rehabilitation centre in Springs.
Botes and Van der Merwe met at a rehabilitation centre in Nigel. The court heard that Botes started drinking after her husband, Luitzen Slippens (41), was gunned down in their Brackendowns home in 2003. She remarried after her husband’s passing.
During the hearing Van der Merwe also told the court that he and Botes spend large amounts of money, left to Botes by her husband, on drugs and alcohol and that he withdrew all the money from her account with her permission just before her death. His testimony was disregarded and Judge Maluleke labeled him as someone whose testimony could not be considered as credible.
During the trial, Van der Merwe testified that he was high on drugs when he discovered Botes’s body in her flat, then used more drugs and spent the night in an adjacent room in the flat with Botes’s decomposed body. He also told the court that he left with Botes’s car the next morning and pawned goods, which he stole from the flat, for more drug money. Van der Merwe never reported Botes’s death.
The cause of Botes’s of death could not be determined due to her body being in advanced stages of decomposing.
Thorough investigation by Detective Sergeant Marion Ness helped in securing the guilty verdict against Van der Merwe for murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and theft. He was sentenced to 15 years for murder, six years for robbery and one year for theft, which will be served concurrently with the effective sentence of 15 years.
ssVan der Merwe’s legal representation indicated that they will most probably appeal against the verdict.
