Moving letter telling of parent grief
PARENTS of Franziska Blochliger said they were still in shock and were struggling with the grief of their daughter’s brutal murder.
In a moving letter read out in court in aggravation of the sentence of the killer of their daughter, Shireen and Andreas Blochliger spoke of their sadness and pain at the loss of their child.
This was after Howard Oliver was found guilty of her rape and murder in Tokai Forest.
Oliver pleaded guilty to two charges of rape, a charge of robbery and the murder of the 16-year-old girl.
In the letter, the parents said they had questions on why their daughter was targeted.
They wrote: “The loss of a child is almost indescribable. There’s pain, there’s sadness, there’s anguish but acceptance is the hardest. To know that our child suffered and needed us, that is the most devastating.”
The parents in the letter told the court they had moved houses, schools and were receiving counselling. They said the death of their daughter had impacted their marriage owing to “feelings of blame and guilt”.
Oliver had tears streaming down his face as each charge was read out.
Silence in the courtroom was broken each time he sniffed and wiped the tears off his face.
State prosecutor Lenro Badenhorst said Oliver had 10 previous convictions including assault, robbery and possession of drugs. –