Five convicted for St Albans murder

2010 attack on Floris Kruger, 60, protracted and merciless – judge

FINGERPRINTS and DNA evidence sealed the fate of five men accused of the kidnapping, torture and murder of a St Albans man – ultimately leading to their conviction on a number of charges. In a lengthy judgment handed down yesterday, Judge Irma Schoeman said the evidence placed Khangelani Matebe, 29, Fundile Ngwensu, 24, Luyanda Nkolose, 29, Fuzile Kosana, 27, and Athenkosi Mtshayisa, 24, at the house of Floris Kruger, 60, during the period of August 31 and September 1 2010.

A sixth accused, Mzuvukile Foli, 28, was acquitted of all charges after Schoeman found the state had failed to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Foli’s fingerprints were found on the bathroom window frame of Kruger’s mother’s house, which was on the same plot where the murder took place.

The court, however, found his claim that he had touched the window while collecting scrap metal days before the brutal attack to be true.

A cellphone in his possession when he was arrested with Matebe and Nkolose could also not be linked to Kruger.

Kruger was attacked in his La Marseilles Road home and tortured through the night. He suffered multiple injuries, including at least seven stab wounds and blunt-force trauma to his head. He was also shot with pellets. Kruger was taken to a nearby Absa ATM and forced to withdraw cash from his account in the early hours of September 1 2010. He was eventually shot twice in the head and his body was dumped near the Fairview racecourse.

His card was used again the next day, when R5 000 was withdrawn.

Schoeman described Kruger’s murder as sustained and merciless.

“The attack was protracted and [he] was tortured to obtain the PIN number for his ATM cards,” she said. Kruger’s Nedbank card, and his mother’s Absa bank card, were found on Matebe and Nkolose.

On the day of their arrest, other items belonging to Kruger, including audio equipment and clothing, were found in their possession.

Kruger’s VW Polo, which was used to drive him to the ATM, was found later in an empty building near the racecourse.

Fingerprints and other DNA evidence of some of the accused were found in the car.

These included Nqwensu’s fingerprint and a cigarette butt containing DNA evidence belonging to Kosana.

All of the accused were arrested within days of the attack and have been in custody ever since.

They pleaded not guilty to all the charges, with each claiming to either not have known each other or that they had been nowhere near Kruger’s house at the time of the attack.

The five men were all found guilty of housebreaking with intent to rob, robbery with aggravating circumstances, kidnapping and murder.

Matebe was also found guilty of the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition after he pointed out to police where Kruger’s stolen 9mm pistol was being kept.

He later denied showing them where the pistol was. It was proven through ballistic evidence that it was the same gun that had been used to shoot Kruger in the head.

The trial took an unexpected turn last year when the presiding officer, Judge Bonisile Sandi, died before he was able to deliver his verdict after the initial trial was concluded.

Schoeman said the matter of sentencing the convicted murderers was a unique situation because they had been in custody for eight years and their personal circumstances had either changed significantly or were unknown.

She ordered that a pre-sentencing report be compiled for each of the five men.

The sentencing proceedings will start on July 31.