Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Sick mind of ‘Lakeside Butcher’
6 She always knew that one day she would kill
AN 18- year- old Citrusdal farmworker beheaded, dismembered and disembowelled a Scottish grandmother to gain respect and improve her life
his was one of the staggering findings of a clinical psychologist who compiled a 26-page pre-sentencing report on convicted murderer Sheree Prince, now 21, “who always knew one day she would kill someone”.
The detailed report on the woman, who’s since been dubbed the “Lakeside Butcher”, was handed in to the Western Cape High Court this week.
It concluded that Prince was a budding psychopath with a high-risk of violently re-offending who should be jailed.
In March, Prince was found guilty of stabbing Scottish expatiate, Sandra Malcolm, 24 times in her modest Lakeside home in April 2015.
The frenzied attack came after Malcolm, 74, heeded Prince’s warning not to call the police after she had broken into the pensioner’s home through a bathroom window.
Malcolm made Prince tea and some toast and treated her injured foot.
When the elderly woman offered to call an ambulance for Prince she stabbed her repeatedly in the throat, lungs, heart and other vital organs.
After beheading, dismembering and disembowelling Malcolm, Prince disposed of her body parts in a wheelie bin.
Analysing the mind behind this madness before a stunned court this week, psychologist Willie Hanekom said Prince began experiencing “violent ideation” from a very young age.
“She stated whenever someone broke her heart she experienced a desire for revenge; that she has always had a problem expressing herself; that she gets angry easily and stays angry for long; that she never expresses remorse or apologises but expects others to do so; that she has always felt isolated: and that she is ‘unable to look forward’.
“She mentioned that in Grade 8 she started hearing voices that came up because everybody told her what to do and because she could not assert herself. At the same time she believed that everybody was talking about her.
“She started having difficulty sleeping, feeling restless and then walking off to friends who were using drugs.
“She also developed anger, explaining that she was angry with everyone as people were rude to her when she tried to talk.”
Examples of Prince’s murderous ideation elicited by Hanekom included: “when I am grown up I am going to kill somebody; if I commit murder, then I would have better relationships with others and with myself as they would take murder seriously; when I am in love with someone and that person breaks my heart then I am going to do something better (revenge); I had an anger inside of me and I don’t know why – I wanted to kill.”
Hanekom concluded that Prince’s brutal murder of Malcolm “could be viewed as an effort to redefine herself (as a powerful agent that will not allow herself to be exploited and will act aggressively in her own interests). Although there was cognitive distortion at the time of murder, there were no signs of psychosis.”
Hanekom revealed Malcolm’s kindness and hospitality sparked a warped response in Prince.
“When she finished eating she suddenly had the thought that the victim had poisoned her, and that she would call the police once she (Sheree) had fallen asleep.
“She then decided to kill the victim, stabbing her once and then immediately starting to decapitate her.”
Hanekom said Prince never volunteered empathy or remorse.
“She said the victim must have experienced much pain during the offence but that she was old and had had her life.”
Prince showed no emotional response to Hanekom’s testimony and following sentencing arguments on Wednesday she showed the Malcolm family the middle finger.
They included Malcolm’s daughter Alison Williams, who earlier told the court how the murder had driven her and her son into therapy and scarred them for life.
Calling for the maximum penalty and vowing to oppose parole at every turn, Williams said it was impossible to forgive Prince for butchering her charitable mother who never harmed a fly. Prince will appear in court on Friday for sentencing which prosecutor, Liezel Herbst argued, should be life imprisonment.