Relief for family as killer policeman gets life in jail
Fox shot wife and ‘showed no remorse’
A Vereeniging Flying Squad member was yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment for his wife’s murder, putting an end to a three-year nightmare for her family.
Edward Kennedy Fox, 38, was convicted of killing his wife, Che, in November 2014.
Yesterday, Judge Johannes Strydom of the high court sitting in the Vereeniging Magistrate’s Court, described the murder as “gruesome, coldblooded and brutal”.
Che’s mother, Genee Kester, told Sowetan that she was happy about the sentence imposed on Fox.
“It has been difficult for us because we somehow knew that Kennedy wasn’t telling the truth. We can finally get closure and start building towards recovering from this nightmare,” Kester said. The couple had two kids. Kester had previously testified and described the horror of seeing her daughter lying lifeless with a gunshot wound on her forehead.
During her testimony, Kester said: “I asked the accused’s mother if her son had shot my daughter and she screamed how could I accuse her son of doing that. She said the bullet was meant for the accused and not Che.”
In passing sentence, Strydom said Fox had failed to show remorse.
“It’s clear that this was a premeditated act. Mr Fox showed no remorse and, as a police officer, he caused a disservice to his colleagues as he also tampered with the scene by removing the bullet casings and placing them outside of his home to make it seem as though there was an intruder,” Strydom said.
Strydom denied Fox leave to appeal against the conviction and sentence, saying there were no reasonable prospects of success.
In previous court appearances, a ballistics expert testified that the shot that killed Che was fired from inside the couple’s bedroom – not from outside as claimed by Fox.