Convicted criminal sentenced for Edmunstone murder

JUSTICE prevailed yesterday as the Durban High Court convicted and sentenced 30-year-old Mveselelo Blose for the murder of uMgeni Park resident, Stephen Edmunstone. The conviction was secured with a palm print lifted from the window that the suspects used to gain entry into the Collard Road home.

Edmunstone was shot in cold blood after a group of armed men stormed his home in August last year. The men held the 63-year-old resident and his partner, Alvin Meyer, at gunpoint as they ransacked the property. But as they fled, they are said to have fired three shots, which killed Edmunstone. A laptop was the only item stolen during the robbery.

In September, the Northglen News reported that police struggled to lift fingerprints from one of the weapons recovered at the scene. The weapon had been dumped into the swimming pool.

A breakthrough was made in November when the palm print was linked to Blose, a convicted criminal. He was arrested and charged with Edmunstone’s murder as well as robbery with aggravating circumstances and house-breaking with intent to rob.

Blose only pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances and housebreaking with intent to rob, saying he only helped his accomplices gain access to the house. He claims to have waited in the car. However, state advocate, Bonginkosi Mbokazi, rejected the plea.

As Judge Gregory Kruger passed the sentence yesterday, he noted that the palm print had been found on the inside of the window, facing down, suggesting that it had been left by someone who had climbed through the window and into the property.

Blose was given a life sentence for the murder of Edmunstone as well as 10 and 15 years for the robbery and housebreaking respectively.