WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-11-11 Time: 12:00:08 Posted By: Jan
The two killers of BMW sales executive Manie Maritz, who was gunned down at his Constantia Park home last year, were on Monday each sentenced to life imprisonment.
Pretoria High Court Acting Judge Vivian Tlhapi found that there were no mitigation warranting a lesser sentence for Mozambican citizens Frans Mthabesitha, 26, and Patric Sithole, 36.
The judge said neither of the two killers had expressed any remorse. “It speaks a lot of a person who cannot say to Mrs Maritz ‘I am sorry’. They did not even take the court into their confidence to say ‘we committed the crime, please have mercy on us’.”
Maritz and his mentally handicapped daughter, Serelda, 16, were attacked in the early hours of July 15, last year, when they returned from a wedding. Maritz was gunned down in cold blood before he could enter his home.
Serelda was attacked by one of the men and nearly strangled. Her shouts for help alerted a neighbour, who fired several shots at the girl’s attacker. This, however, did not deter him. It was only after the neighbour fired further shots, wounding Sithole that the two men fled the scene.
Maritz’s wife, Yvette, arrived home from the wedding shortly afterwards and found her husband dead on the porch of the house and her step-daughter hysterical.
Both the wounded Sithole and his accomplice Mthabesitha were apprehended by the police within a few minutes of the murder.
Although some of the looted goods, including a cellphone, were found on Mthabesitha and Sithole was linked by DNA evidence to the crime scene, both persisted that they did not know each other and that they had not been near the home of the Maritz family that night.
The judge on Monday said she had no idea how long it would take the traumatised family to get over the death of their loved one, or whether they would ever get over it, but she added that it would have been helpful towards their healing process if the killers asked them for forgiveness.
She said the court needed to send out a strong message to the community that this type of conduct would not be tolerated.
“Our beloved country is plagued by crime – murders, house robberies, rapes. In most instances crimes are committed in the privacy of people’s own homes. This dangerous situation affects all citizens alike, no matter their race or creed. The community is looking up to the courts to impose tough sentences.”
The judge added that there was nothing more callous and brutal than attackers who confronted and even killed their victims in their own homes.
Tlhapi commended the neighbour of the Maritz family, Hendrik du Plessis, for coming to their aid when he heard the shot that killed Maritz and also heard Serelda shouting for help. “It speaks a lot of an individual who is not deterred by the sound of gunshots,” the judge said.
She said these days neighbours and individuals seldom come to the assistance of crime victims, let alone put their own lives in danger by trying to help. “If it was not for his (Du Plessis’s) bravery, these two men would not have been before court,” Tlhapi said.
She also complimented the police on their swift action, catching the culprits minutes after the incident.
Maritz’s two brothers, Louw and Koen, said that although the killers received the harshest sentence possible, they would have preferred the death sentence.
“The Bible says an eye for an eye. They took a life, yet they get to sit in jail where they can watch television and further their studies. My brother is dead and nothing will bring him back, but they received a second chance,” Louw said.
Maritz’ widow Yvette did not attend yesterday’s proceedings.