Old man gets 10 years for brutal murder of girlfriend

‘The post mortem showed that there were 14 incised wounds to the body of the deceased . . .’

A SEVENTY-one-year-old man will spend the next 10 years behind bars after he stabbed his girlfriend multiple times and kept her body inside a locked room for two days.

Michael Tom pleaded guilty to a charge of murder in the Northern Cape High Court and submitted a plea explanation as part of his confession to the crime.

In his statement, Tom admitted to assaulting his girlfriend, Ragel Adams, who he had been dating for about three months, with a garden fork and then stabbing her multiple times with a sharp object on the evening of February 19 this year.

He said the assault followed a confrontation during which he had questioned her whereabouts over weekends.

“I met Adams about three months prior to the incident and we were in a love relationship and lived together in Douglas. My employer later transferred me to Vaallus Plot 10 and Adams remained in Douglas. I received my salary every month-end and would usually go home to give her some money. Whenever I arrived home, she would not be home.

“I went home on February 16, 2018 and she was again not there. The whole of Sunday, February 18, she did not return home. I went to her brother who phoned her. She arrived home the Sunday afternoon and we left for Vaallus Farm on the Monday, February 19. I went to work and she remained at my residential address in Vaallus.

“The afternoon when I returned from work I confronted her regarding her whereabouts the past weekend. She just remained quiet and I became emotional and assaulted her. I first used a garden fork and later a sharp object. I cannot recall how many times I struck her but it was multiple times,” Tom confessed.

He said he tried to conceal the body afterwards.

“Upon her death I was emotional and shocked as it was the first time I had killed a person. I covered the body with a blanket and locked the door of the room where she was lying. I was scared and did not know how to report the incident or what to do with the body.”

He said he later told another person about the incident.

“On Thursday, February 22, 2018 Klaas Uithaler arrived and I informed him of what had transpired and what I had done. I opened the door to the room in which the deceased was lying. Uithaler then called the police and I was arrested at the scene,” Tom said.

Acting Judge Anna Sieberhagen highlighted the brutality of the attack.

“The post mortem showed that there were 14 incised wounds to the body of the deceased of which five are consistent with defence wounds. The deceased also sustained severe bruising as well as rib fractures. The injuries are indicative of the amount of force the accused used when inflicting these injuries on the deceased. The cause of death was stated as exsanguination (loss of blood) due to blunt and sharp trauma,” Sieberhagen added, however, that Tom’s age, the fact that he admitted to the crime and was a first-time offender, were compelling circumstances for the court to deviate from the prescribed sentence of 15 years.

“After hearing the argument of the State and the accused, I considered the brutality of the crime as well as the fact that the accused left the body for two days without reporting the matter as aggravating circumstances. However, I also accept that the accused is a firsttime offender and he is remorseful, which can be established in his plea of guilt and his co-operation with the police since his arrest. The fact that he had taken the court into his confidence is also a mitigating factor. I also consider the accused’s advance age as a mitigating factor,” she said.

Tom was yesterday sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.