Arson killer jailed for life
WHILE THE families of the two victims, one of whom was only a four year old, who died in a fire in Gong Gong, outside Barkly West, are finding it hard to forgive the woman who set fire to the house in which their loved ones died, the 28-year-old murderer was yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment.
The victims’ family members said yesterday that while they were pleased with the sentence handed down to Elisa Tsilo, they were not able to forgive her.
Northern Cape High Court Acting Judge Janine Snyders yesterday sentenced Tsilo to life imprisonment for premeditated murder, as well as a further 15 years for a second count of murder, five years for arson and an additional six months for assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm for the incident which took place on December 23 last year.
On the day of the incident, Tsilo set fire to the house which she shared with her boyfriend, Victor Louw, his mother, Lena Louw, and her son in Gong Gong.
Tsilo had doused Victor with petrol before setting him alight.
Victor and a four-year-old child, Tshepang Mohale, who was visiting at the time, were pulled out of the flames but succumbed to their injuries in the Kimberley Hospital on Christmas Eve.
Tsilo’s son, who was only a year old at the time, survived the incident and sustained superficial burn wounds.
Tsilo appeared in court yesterday with her head covered by a scarf and tried to hide from the media, who were taking photographs of her before proceedings got under way.
Snyders said during sentencing that Tsilo’s actions had not only left Lena Louw nearly destitute but had also left the pensioner with a hole in her heart as she has lost her son.
“The victim impact report stated that Lena Louw is still living in the house, which is in a deteriorating state and has smoke stains from the incident. Louw is already very old and is currently taking care of the young child of the accused. Louw’s only income is her pension grant and she has no financial means to rebuild her home or to replace the things she lost in the fire. The accused not only robbed Louw of her home but also took the lives of two people, one of whom was Louw’s son and the other was a four-yearold child,” said Snyders.
She said that Tsilo had never shown any remorse for her actions.
“The presentencing report from the State showed that the accused did not apologise to Elizabeth Mohale, whose four-year-old son, Obakeng, died in the fire. The death of the child has broken the hearts of the family.”
Snyders added that Tsilo had even put the life of her own child at risk.
“According to evidence presented, the accused went to fetch her son when the fire broke out. However, the child also suffered burn wounds. Although the injuries were minor, he suffered them as a result of the actions of the accused.”
Snyders stated that she could not find any compelling circumstances in the personal circumstances of the accused to deviate from the prescribed sentences.
“The legal representative of the accused, advocate Dries van Tonder, argued that the murder occurred as a result of a domestic dispute between the accused and Victor. He said the incident happened on the spur of the moment and the period of premeditation was not lengthy. The State, represented by advocate Joyleen Mabaso, pointed out, however, that the accused had ample time to reconsider her actions.
“With regards to the two murder charges, I am not swayed that there are compelling circumstances present in the personal circumstances of the accused which would result in a deviation in the sentence.
“Although the period of premeditation was not lengthy, the accused did not deviate from her plans to carry out the act. One can only imagine the pain the deceased experienced before they died. The only sentence appropriate for accused is direct imprisonment and sentences will run concurrently,” Snyders concluded.