Convicted Mortimer Saunders described as ‘brutal, inhumane’
The Western Cape High Court convicted Mortimer Saunders of the rape and premeditated murder of Courtney Pieters on Wednesday.
“The behaviour of the accused in this entire period is the most vicious, brutal, inhumane, ruthless, sanguinary and painful this court has ever seen,” ruled Judge Babalwa Mantame.
Spontaneous applause broke out in the gallery as Mantame read out her judgement.
Saunders confessed to killing the three-year-old, Pieters by feeding her ant poison but denied that it was premeditated.
“Ms Pieters left the children alone to that she can afford to put food on the table. She left the children alone to earn a living.
“The accused on the other hand was present in this house, he was not a stranger to the family, but he abused their trust,” found Mantame.
He also denied raping her while she was still alive, admitting that he preformed sexual acts on her corpse.
Hundreds of community members took part in the search in May last year after she disappeared from her home in Elsies River – her decomposed body was found nine days after she went missing.
“Little did the family know that the accused would be the main perpetrator of these crimes. After even after he committed these crimes, he kept quiet for days and went about with the search parties to look for the deceased knowing very well what he did to her.”
Arguments in aggravation and mitigation of sentence will be heard on December 4.