DURBAN High Court has sentenced a 33-year-old man to 20 years imprisonment for the murder of a woman whose headless and mutilated body was discovered in Pigeon Valley park on 24 January by a municipal worker.
“Investigations revealed the deceased was murdered on the same morning by the accused. The woman’s body had been found with missing body parts namely head, genitals and one finger,” said Capt SM Maphumulo from SAPS Corporate Communications.
The investigation by W/O P Ganaz of the eThekwini Central Trio Team led to the arrest of the man four days after the woman’s body was discovered.
In his plea the accused explained to the court that he was homeless and had experienced a difficult upbringing.
He told the presiding Judge Kate Pillay that he had first met the deceased, Nosipho Nzama, at the beginning of January while collecting cans for recycling in Umbilo.
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“He said Nzama had told him she had no place to stay and wanted to stay with him. They met up on the morning of 24 January, the day of murder and the victim said she wanted to see where the accused lived in the bush. She followed him to where he stayed and then complained about his financial situation and said she would rather be in a relationship with someone who was stable and well established,” he said.
The accused explained that this had angered him and he attacked the woman, strangling her until she died and without any particular purpose, cut her genitals and head and put these in a black plastic bag and hid them.
“He apologised for his actions, but Judge Pillay said she had never seen a person so evil and full of hatred as the accused. He was given a jail sentence of 20 years,” said Maphumulo.
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