Mooinooi farm killers handed 12 life sentences
The high court in Pretoria has handed 12 life sentences to four accused in the murder of a same-sex couple, Gezina Sophia and Joey Van Niekerk, in Mooinooi in December 2017.
Mercia Strydom (24), Aaron James Sithole (37), Jack Chikinya Sithole (21), and Alex Modau (39) were convicted of multiple charges including murder, rape and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
"On 10 December 2017, Jacobus Petrus Strydom (54) and his wife, Mercia, tricked the married couple, Gezina Sophia and Joey Van Niekerk, into coming to the farm to ostensibly sign an offer to purchase documents,” says the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana.
"The Strydoms were leasing a portion on the plot of the Van Niekerks, which the Strydoms had expressed a wish to buy.
"Upon their arrival, the Van Niekerks were coerced into signing the contract, assaulted, raped and killed with the assistance of the Sitholes and Modau.”
The bodies of the couple were taken to a nearby river and burnt beyond recognition.
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