IOL Herman Schalk Redelinhuys has been sentenced for the premeditated murder of his half-brother. Picture: Supplied
Image: Picture: Supplied / NPA
A Western Cape man who killed his half-brother, because he was abusive, has been jailed for an effective 15 years.
Herman Schalk Redelinhuys,24, was sentenced in the Oudtshoorn Regional Court for the premeditated murder of his half-brother Jacques Johannes Liebenberg.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in the Western Cape, Redelinhuys pleaded guilty in a Section 105A plea and sentence agreement.
In his plea, the accused admitted to planning the murder and hiring hitmen, Abraham Swartbooi and Adrian Isaacs, to kill Liebenberg.
"He claimed that the deceased had a habit of abusing him in the worst imaginable ways," said NPA spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila.
"He said he constantly forgave him with the hope that he would stop abusing him."
Outlining the details leading up to the murder, Redelinhuys said he approached Swartbooi and Isaacs and informed them of the abuse he was suffering at the hands of the deceased.
In January 2023, Redelinhuys drove to Oudtshoorn, to pick up the two men who he had promised payment of R750 if they all killed his half-brother. Redelinhuys then dropped the men on Kammanasie Road in Dysselsdorp.
He thereafter went to fetch the deceased, informing him that they were going for a drive.
The court heard that Swartbooi flagged down the vehicle, and when Redelinhuys stopped, he got into the vehicle and hit the deceased on the head with a hammer.
Liebenberg was also stabbed several times and attempted to flee.
Redelinhuys after making sure his brother was dead, left him there and then took the two co-accused.
Redelinhuys was sentenced to 25 years direct imprisonment, but the court suspended 10 years for five years on condition that he is not again found guilty of murder or attempted murder, committed during the period of suspension.
"The sentence was also suspended on condition that the 24-year-old testifies truthfully and satisfactorily for the State in the trial of his co-accused."
The court heard that Redelinhuys was sexually and emotionally abused by the deceased from the age of four.
The NPA during aggravation of sentencing regional court prosecutor Goulding Hyron argued that the murder traumatized the deceased's parents and girlfriend who was six months pregnant at the time of the murder.
Swartbooi and Isaacs will appear in court next week for trial.
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