Young northern areas killer gets life behind bars
Convicted murderer Walter Williams, 22, was sentenced to life in prison yesterday.
Williams, who denied throughout his trial that he was an active member of the Nice Time Boozas (NTB) gang, but admitted to being part of the notorious 26 gang while in custody at the St Albans Correctional Facility, was convicted last week on 10 charges including three counts of attempted murder.
Handing down sentence in the Port Elizabeth High Court, acting judge Sureshni Moodliar said she could not find any substantial or compelling circumstances to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life for the premeditated murder of Richard Marius Stuurman on December 10 2018.
Williams shot Stuurman in the head in Kobus Street, Helenvale.
Williams had entered the house where Stuurman was playing cards with a group of friends, sat down and drank a glass of cold drink before standing up, pulling out a firearm and firing a single shot at Stuurman’s head.
A state witness who testified during the trial, and who is not being named as she is under witness protection, said that as Williams stood up and pointed the gun at Stuurman, he apologised to the homeowner before firing the fatal shot.
Williams received 12-year sentences for each of three attempted murder charges after it was found by the court that on December 9 2018 he had opened fire on a 17-year-old walking in Anita Street and in the process shot a 13-year-old and 16-year-old in the hand and stomach, respectively.
All three teens survived and have made full recoveries.
Williams’s 17-year-old target was not wounded.
Moodliar further sentenced Williams to 15 years for each of two charges of illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm and 18 months for each of the illegal ammunition charges.
Williams received threeyear sentences for both charges of contravening the protection of organised crime act in that Moodliar found that he was guilty of contributing towards a pattern of criminal gang activity.
In total, Williams was sentenced to life plus 31½ years behind bars.
Moodliar ruled that all the sentences run concurrently with the life sentence.