Four men convicted in the rape and murder trial of student Hannah Cornelius will learn on Monday what punishment they’re to be slapped with.
Vernon Witbooi, Geraldo Parsons and Eben van Niekerk were found guilty of rape, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and robbery last week.
A fourth accused, Nashville Julius, will be sentenced for kidnapping and robbery.
Cornelius and her friend Cheslin Marsh were hijacked in Stellenbosch last year.
Sentencing will resume on Monday afternoon.
State advocate Lenro Badenhorst has called for harsh sentences, saying that the community at large needs to be protected from the killers, especially Witbooi and Parsons, who called the shots during the attack.
Cornelius’s father delivered a heart-wrenching testimony in aggravation of sentence last week.
Willem Cornelius told the court the effect his daughter’s death has had on his family is beyond devastating.
He says he hopes the court will consider a sentence that will at the very least prevent other parents from having to endure the same tragedy.
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