Life imprisonment for murderers
Fransisco Paulo Ferreira sustained about 18 stab wounds and was then put inside a dustbin, which was placed on the back of a bakkie.
HAZEL Una Ferreira (29), Edward Bradley Kock (31) and Kevin Frank Hutton (30) were sentenced to life imprisonment by the Pretoria High Court on May 24, for the murder of 39-year-old Fransisco Paulo Ferreira.
On February 10, 2014, at about 08:00, Fransisco’s wife let the other two murderers into their home and, when he woke up from relaxing on the couch, all three of them stabbed him to death.
He sustained about 18 stab wounds and was then put inside a dustbin, which was placed on the back of a bakkie.
His three assailants called someone to assist them with the driving, because none of them was able to. Unknown to them, the person they called was a police officer.
On their way to drop off the bakkie at one of the victim’s butcheries, the bakkie ran out of fuel.
While Ferreira’s brother went to get fuel, the police officer started to ask the friend questions. When her brother returned the friend informed him that the driver was becoming inquisitive.
Ferreira’s brother then decided to leave the bakkie in Alberton Department of Home Affairs’ parking lot.
The police officer returned alone to the scene where the bakkie was parked, to investigate what was inside the dustbin, and made the gruesome discovery of Fransisco’s body.
He called the Alberton SAPS for assistance, and they proceeded to a house in Paul Newham Drive, Bassonia, where the police officer first met with the suspects. Upon arrival the police officers found evidence that the murder took place in the house.
The case was assigned to WO Stephen Joubert, of the Mondeor SAPS, for further investigation.
Hazel Ferreira was arrested the following day, and her brother and the friend were arrested after a few weeks of thorough investigation.
The motive for the murder was ascertained to be embezzlement.
Ferreira and her brother were collecting money from the victim’s business over the previous two years without depositing it into the business’s bank account.
The week before the murder, Fransisco had requested money from his wife, because he wanted to invest in another business, and she and her brother were scared that he was going to find out that there was no money available.
Detective Branch Commander Lieut Col Adriaan Haasbroek welcomed the lengthy sentence and would like to commend the investigating officer for his efforts throughout the investigation.
