Killer waiter ‘remorseful’

A self-confessed drug and gambling addict, who admitted to stabbing his former manager’s mother to death with a steak knife, was yesterday convicted on charges of murder, housebreaking and robbery.

Judge Eben Jordaan convicted Johan Visser, 35, after the former waiter admitted that he had, in September 2015, murdered Anita Cassel at her Wonderboom home.

Visser had previously lived with Cassel and her son, Danie, and also briefly worked as a waiter at Panarotti’s in Montana, where Danie is a manager.

He said in a statement he had gone to the Cassels’ house in the early hours of the morning to get the keys to the restaurant, because he was still owed R3 000 and wanted to steal the money.

When he could not find the keys, he went to the kitchen where he snorted two “bullets” of the drug CAT and took three big sips of brandy to calm him down.

He wanted to leave when he realised Cassel’s dogs had detected him, but became afraid when the elderly woman came to the kitchen, took a steak knife and stabbed her several times in the chest.

She screamed for help and when Danie came to her aid, he stabbed Danie in the arm and head-butted him. He then took the keys to the restaurant from Danie’s room and took his former manager’s cellphone so that he could not phone the police.

Visser hid in the bushes outside before going to the home of his girlfriend, who drove him to the restaurant.

She waited for him while he went inside and removed more than R45 000 from the safe.

Visser used the money to buy new clothes and more drugs. He was arrested the same day while gambling with his ill-gotten gains.

Visser said he had already been without sleep for days because of his drug use and had no intention of hurting anyone when he broke into the Visser’s home.

“I did not plan for the deceased and Danie to be hurt that day. Things just happened at the spur of the moment when I was detected at the house.

“I am truly remorseful for my actions,” he said.

The trial was previously transferred to a new judge when Judge Bert Bam rejected a plea bargain agreement, which would have seen Visser being sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.

Judge Jordaan postponed the trial to August for sentencing proceedings.

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